A Face For Every Picture
by BabyBallerina95
Summary: Bella lives with her dad and sister just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Tired of constantly getting picked on-and dealing her life at home-Bella tries to keep up with schoolwork. With her grades slipping, her teacher negotiates a deal. EXB
1. The Concept Of Love

**I only own Megan. :(

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Summary: Bella Swan, an intelligent and eloquent, yet softspoken, high school student, wants nothing more than her life to be normal. "Normal', however, is something she's never experienced.

She lives with her father and younger sister, Megan, just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Tired of constantly getting picked on - and dealing her life at home - Bella tries to keep up with schoolwork, but without success. With her grades slipping, her teacher negotiates a deal for her to bring her grades up. Her two options leave her speechless.

To top it all off, after coming home from school one day, she gets in a particularly nasty argument with her father, just after getting in a fight with the school's cheerleading captain. She has to make a decision as to how to continue with her life, and once again, she finds her array of options very limited.

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_**Ch. 1 The Concept of Love**_

_The doctor came out of the delivery room, a solemn expression painted across his aged face. "I'm so sorry," he said. "She didn't make it."_

_My father lifted his arm from the armrest and squeezed my fragile hand tightly. I leaned over the armrest that separated his chair from mine and leaned my head on his shoulder. I was shaking uncontrollably from the tears. My mom had just died giving birth to my sister._

But that was six years ago. Megan, my younger sister, was now in kindergarten, and I was a junior in high school. Today marked the six-year anniversary of my mother, Renee's, death, and technically, it was Megan's birthday as well. It had been decided long ago that we would celebrate my sister's birthday on her half-birthday, in six months. We felt guilty being happy observing my sister's birthday while my mother deserved a day commemorating her as well.

There's a fine line between life and death. My mother dying meant that I got a sister. It was as if, in order to have an addition to the family, we had to sacrifice the life of another loved one. Megan's life began when my mother's ended.

Another sacrifice I unknowingly made that day six years ago was that I was going to have to give up my father. Not physically, though. He looked the same as he always had, albeit a little more stout. I gave up my father emotionally.

My mother and father had been together their whole lives, and married young. They were so in love, and even when I was just a toddler, I knew it. I knew my parents would trade the world to be together, and I thought that love like that was everlasting.

But the day she died, my father changed. Every day he came home from work, he was angry and full of rage. I was eleven, and I understood that he was probably just going through his own grieving process. But my life eventually fell back into place, and his didn't. I still missed my mother with all my heart, and knew I would never forget her, but I also knew that it was time to move on. Dad never did.

Day after day, his anger and hatred for the world had grown exponentially. At first it was just screaming and yelling, and he might throw a bottle or two of beer, his new drug of choice, at the wall. That changed though, about five months after Megan was born. I was about twenty minutes late coming home from school one day because I'd stayed after class to ask my teacher about a homework assignment, then walked straight home. I didn't do anything wrong, and he never gave me a chance to explain myself. Before I knew it, I felt a stinging sensation on my right cheek and there was a red handprint where my father struck me.  
He himself looked shocked at what he had done, and dropped down on his knees in front of me and cried with his head in his hands. He wouldn't stop apologizing. _"I'm sorry, so sorry honey! You know I'll never do it again. I didn't mean to… I love you…"_ The same old lines he'd given me every time he'd done that to me after.

I was standing by the shrine of pictures of my mother at our yearly candlelight vigil as I remembered how everything changed when Megan was born, how my life had ended up pointing in a completely different direction. Tears were silently welling up in my eyes and I had my hands on Megan's shoulders as she stood in front of me facing the pictures of mom.

My eyes scanned the dozens of pictures we had saved of her. One with me sleeping in her arms after I was born, one with her attempting to teach me how to tie my shoes, one where she was pushing me on the swing set in my backyard, laughing with my dad.

Megan released herself from my grip on her shoulders and turned around, looking up at me. "Bella, it's okay. Don't cry. Mommy's in a better place. She's happy." She was so young, so innocent. I bent down on my knees and hugged her into me.

"I know," was all I could say. I felt so bad for her, that she had never even met her own mother. She had never known what it was like to have a mother, and she didn't know what a wonderful person she was. All she knew was our dad, who was always piss-drunk and infuriated about everything. And I felt guilty she was not in a single picture with my mom at the vigil, and that dad and I were in most.

I stood up and held her hand as Dad silently took one last look at the pictures, holding both his hands together behind his back. He drew in a deep breath and unlaced his hands and grabbed the pictures to put them away. He placed them in a cardboard box, sealing it shut with tape, and carried it up the steps to the attic where we kept them throughout the year.

He went to bed, leaving Megan and I alone. "Meg, it's nine o'clock. You need to get to bed."

"No! I don't want to! I want to stay up with you!" she complained.

"You can't, honey. Tomorrow's Monday, we have school and you need to get your rest. Besides, I'm going to bed myself pretty soon. I'm exhausted." And I was. I felt like all the energy had been drained from my body after dealing with my dad all day and looking at the pictures of Mom and I.

"Come on, get to the bathroom and brush your teeth and go to bed." I grabbed her hand and led her to the downstairs bathroom, making sure she did as she was told. Since she was born, I found myself acting more like a parent to her than a sister, since Mom was gone and Dad didn't do much more than scream and drink. He didn't even have a job; he'd been fired at every job he'd had since Mom's death because of the constant drinking. With school, homework, and parenting my sister and a forty-five year-old man, I didn't have time for a job. My aunt Susan, my Mom's sister, and her husband, Rick, were very wealthy and sent us money each month for food and other expenses. They were prissy and snooty, so they wouldn't take care of us; the most they wanted to do was to be our financial aid since they knew what Dad had become.

Megan scrubbed her teeth and went into her bedroom and I followed her and turned off her light before I left her room. "Good night, Bella," she yawned.

"Night Meg," I said before shutting her door and going to bed myself.


	2. Lockers

**Not mine :(**

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My alarm clock woke me up at 6:30 sharp the next morning. I rolled over and tried my hardest to get out of bed. I barely got any sleep the previous night; the bags under my eyes were evidence. I groaned and decided to take my shower before anything else, hoping it would wake me up. I stripped my clothes and turned on the shower, stepping in after I got the right temperature. After I shaved and washed my hair and body, I stepped out and dried off. I put on new clothes for the day and blow dried my hair then straightened it. I brushed my teeth, skipping breakfast, as I found myself doing recently, and went into Megan's bedroom.

I squatted down on the floor beside her bed and whispered to her sleeping figure. "Meg, you've got to get up. It's 7:15. You need to get around." She shot right up and smiled big at me.

"Good morning, sis!" She wrapped her little arms around my neck and I hugged her back.

"Morning," I smiled. She was definitely a morning person.

I left her to the bathroom to get around and went downstairs and made pancakes for Megan. I heard creaking coming from the staircase and saw my dad walking toward the kitchen and straight to the fridge for a beer. "Hi Dad," I spoke.

Without a greeting, he replied, "Did you make anything for me?"

"Um, no, actually I only made one pancake, for Megan." I never made breakfast for him because he usually wasn't up this early, and on the rare occasions that he was, usually a beer was enough for him.

"Dammit, Bella! What the hell?" he exclaimed angrily. I flinched, preparing for it.  
He hit me hard on my exposed shoulder since I was wearing a tank top. It was sore. I reluctantly handed over the freshly made pancake to my father who ate it without question as to what Megan would eat.

I scrambled around trying to find more breakfast food before she came back downstairs since I didn't want to be late for school waiting on her to eat. I finally found a box of cereal stuffed in the back of one of the cupboards, and there was just enough left for a bowl of cereal.

"Hey Daddy!" she yelled running down the steps with newly brushed hair and teeth and day clothes on. He waved back lightly, almost ignoring her. She didn't think anything of this as she sat on the stool at the island and ate the cereal I left out for her. "So Bella. Are you excited about today?" she asked happily.

"Sure, I guess. What's so thrilling going on today that I should be excited for?" I inquired.

"It's the beginning of the week, silly!" she laughed. Everything was exciting and interesting to Megan. Even a full week of school. She loved school. She had lots of friends and no one ever picked on her. I, however, hated school, and had only two good friends, Alice and Jane. And people _did_ pick on me, especially one person: Edward Cullen. He and his stupid friends had always been jerks to me, throwing random shit at me for no reason, or calling me names. One day, in seventh grade, I came home early crying because Edward wouldn't stop making fun of me. My dad yelled at me for skipping the rest of the school day and for putting up with it. Then, as expected, he slapped me across the face because I wouldn't stop crying and "grow up" about it.

"Yay… the beginning of the week…" I said with fake enthusiasm that her young mind didn't catch.

I grabbed a hoodie and threw it on, expecting to wear it the rest of the day to hide the developing bruise on my shoulder. No one except for Alice knew about what my home life was like. I would have told Jane, but she had a big mouth and more friends than me, and I didn't want her to let something slip to them.

I grabbed my keys before waving goodbye to my dad, who didn't acknowledge me, and walked out the door.

I unlocked the car and got into the driver's seat while Megan slid into the back since I drove Alice to school too. I looked at Megan in the rearview mirror and she looked back. My eyebrows were raised, silently instructing her to put her seatbelt on. She looked back at me, pretending not to know what I wanted her to do, but failing. "Megan," I said authoritatively.

She sighed and stretched her seatbelt over her petite body. Finally satisfied, I put the keys into the ignition, turned on the air conditioner, and slid an old Saves the Day album into the stereo. I pulled out of the driveway and drove the four blocks to Alice's house. I stopped in front of her house and made two short, sharp chirps of the horn to let her know I was here.

Alice came running out the front door, with her bag sloppily slung over her shoulder and she slammed the door shut. She opened the passenger door and got inside and greeted Megan and I with a smile.

"Hey Alice!" Megan exclaimed happily. She loved Alice; she thought she was so cool and wanted to be just like her. Megan was so impressionable.

"Megan!" Alice smiled, turning her body slightly to give my sister a high-five.

"You two are idiots," I laughed. I drove down the road towards the elementary school for Megan. I drove through the front drop off and she got out and was greeted by her numerous friends, and Alice and I both waved at her through the window as we sped off towards Dulaney High.

We were about a mile away from the high school when a car in the left lane slowed down next to us, but didn't stop. Both the windows on the right side rolled down, and Zack Merrick's face was revealed from the passenger seat, and Emmett McCarty's head popped out the back right window. I could see Edward in the driver's seat beyond Zack's head, and he was laughing as Emmett and Zack flipped me off and smiled evilly. They all cracked up, then rolled the windows back up and sped off.

"God, why are they such assholes? I haven't done a single thing to any of them!" I cried angrily.

"They're just jerks. Just ignore it," Alice said, trying to make me feel better. She didn't understand how mean they could actually be sometimes, though, because no one ever picked on her. Alice was the kind of person who was friends with everybody, and nobody disliked her. She could hang out with anybody, and not be forever associated to that clique. Friends of hers ranged from everybody from the cheerleaders to the geeks to the jocks to the burnouts.

I sighed. "But you like Jasper! You don't think _he's_ a jerk!"

"Hey! He wasn't the one who just flipped you off! And you have to admit, he's the nicest of all of Edward's friends," she defended. "And he's so sweet and so cute…" she trailed off into a daydream.

When we got to the school, I parked in my usual spot under the tree in the shade so my car didn't get overheated from the excessive sunlight. I turned off the car and pulled the keys out of the ignition and we both got out. I locked it with the automatic button on my keys and we went inside.

When Alice and I got inside, we noticed that most of the students looked annoyed about something. We walked through the crowd of angry teenagers towards the hall of lockers. That's where we found out what they were bothered about. Each locker now had a piece of paper taped to the front of it with names of students on them. The teachers had been complaining that students were wasting too much time in the hallway talking to their friends, and were subsequently always late to class, so they assigned the lockers randomly instead of letting us chose. I sighed, and waved at Alice as she went towards a set of lockers and found her locker that read _"Brandon, Alice"._

I kept walking until I found mine. _"Swan, Bella"_ was written on it in black ink. I looked to see who had locker assignments next to mine. On my left was Kayla Fisher, and I could at least tolerate her. To my right, however, was a name I wasn't so happy about. **Edward Cullen.** Great. Now he could torture me between classes too!

I angrily shoved my bag in my locker and grabbed my calculus book for first period. I was shutting my locker, about to walk away when I felt a hand grab my shoulder from behind. My bruised shoulder. "Ow!" I yelped and ripped off the hand that was resting on my shoulder.

Edward looked at me and dropped his hand. "Jeez, I barely touched you. Wimp." I rolled my eyes. If he only knew. I turned away and he stepped in front of me. "Wait! I have to welcome you to this neighborhood of lockers. Welcome! I just know we'll have _lots_ of fun together, neighbor!" he mocked.

"Yeah. Fun. Bye." I walked off, finally escaping him, and entered calculus with Mrs. Sandoval.

"Ah! Ms. Swan!" the teacher smiled. "Seats have been assigned like the lockers, so you'll be sitting over here from now on." She pointed to the last seat in the front row by the window. I gave a fake smile and sat down as ordered.

Just as I sat down, a familiar face appeared and sat to my right. "Bella!" Edward smiled. "I get to see you _again!_ Wow, you know what? We have three more classes together! I'll get to sit next to you _all day!_" he laughed. This was all a joke to him. He _liked_ being an asshole.

I sighed and opened my calculus book, hoping to finish up _some_ of the homework before Mrs. Sandoval asked that we turn them in. I had about three minutes until the late bell rang, so I could get at least some of it done. Lately I had been finding myself either turning in homework late, not finishing it completely, or not doing it at all. Not because I was lazy, but because I was so busy being Megan's mom _and_ dad when I got home that I didn't have time for anything else. Plus, I was also having a role reversal with my Dad, who I watched over and cooked for as well. I never had any time to get anything done. I understood everything completely fine, and if they only gave out tests instead of homework, I'd have A+ 's in every class. Instead, I was failing calculus since she assigned so much homework, and only passing every other class by the skin of my teeth.

I finished the fourth question out of twenty when the late bell rang, meaning we had to turn in our homework and get into our seats before the teacher walked in. I sighed and turned in my homework to the tray on Mrs. Sandoval's desk. At least I'd get _partial_ credit for answering some of the questions.

Edward turned in his blank sheet of paper into the homework tray before me and stopped abruptly and moved out the way, then he stuck his foot out in front of me, tripping me. I fell face-first onto the floor and everyone laughed hysterically. I could feel my face get red-hot from embarrassment, and I pulled myself up and sat down. I slouched in my seat, not wanting to be seen, which was hard, since I was now in the front row.

The bell finally rang, signifying that I was done enduring my torture next to Edward so I went to my new locker and exchanged books for history. Mrs. Sandoval had asked Edward to stay after class to talk to her, so I silently thanked her in my mind as I got five minutes of peace without Edward in History.

I scrambled around, trying to finish my history homework. I actually got half of it done when Edward walked in as the bell rang. I handed in my incomplete assignment and sat next to Edward, who continually cracked jokes about me throughout the class, making sure all the students could hear him and laugh at me when the teacher wasn't looking.

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I made to fifth period: lunch. _I might actually be able to avoid Edward!_ I thought. Apparently, I thought wrong. As soon as I sat down at my table next to Jane and Alice, Jasper walked over, food tray in hand, and stood beside Alice, making her smile wide. "Hey Alice!" he smiled. It was obvious he liked her as much as she liked him, but neither of them had ever done anything about it. But this was a step, at least, because he never approached her outside of class before.

"Hi Jasper!" Alice blushed. He then sat his tray down next to her, and pulled out a seat. I didn't mind Jasper because he was always really nice, but it was his friends that were always mean to me. I was worried that they would sit with us since Jasper sat with us today.  
And they did. Edward, Emmett and Zack all filled up the last empty seats at our table, and made dumb jokes the whole time, mostly about me, and the worst ones came from Edward. I tried to ignore it, and every time Jane or Alice tried to stick up for me, I kicked them under the table to shut them up. I didn't want them to say anything because I didn't want the boys to make a joke about me not being able to fight my own fights. Which I wasn't fighting back anyway, but having my friends fight for me would have been worse.

Finally, Jane couldn't keep her mouth shut, as usual. Her face showing how furious she was, she stood up and flipped her tray of food over and it landed in Edward's face. "You jerk! I don't know how you can be so mean to people! Have you no conscience? Grow some and grow up!" She grabbed my hand and stormed off, dragging me with her. Alice waved lightly and smiled apologetically at Jasper for leaving him, and she tagged along behind.

We went into the bathroom and I started crying and leaned up against the wall, then slid down to the floor with my head in my hands. They both sat on either side of me with their arms wrapped around my shoulder. "It's okay, don't let them get to you," Alice said softly.

"Yeah, they're so immature," Jane agreed. "And besides, Mrs. Sandoval is making Edward get a tutor because he's failing calculus!"

I looked up at her and glared. "I'm failing calculus, too."

"Well… That's only because you never do your homework, but you at least know the material. He's just stupid," she said, trying to comfort me about Edward's faults.

"You're not helping. Edward being unintelligent isn't some juicy gossip. Everyone knows that," I sniffled, putting my head back in my hands.

"Wanna skip the rest of the day?" Alice suggested.

I nodded my head.

We left the bathroom and headed out the back door of the school that led into the student parking lot. Alice and I got into my car and we followed Jane in her car to her house.  
Jane pulled into her driveway and I parked behind her, cutting the engine and removing my keys from the ignition. The three of us went inside and I went straight for the bathroom so I could wash off my mascara-smeared face. I sighed at my looks in the mirror and went upstairs to Jane's bedroom where she and Alice were.

"Hey Bells, you okay?" Alice asked. She was sitting on the floor by the bed.

"Yeah…" I lied. I was just tired of Edward and his friends making fun of me at school, then having to go home to my sister, who was more like a daughter since I took care of her, and an unappreciative father who was more like a son since I took care of him. And on top of all that, Dad was always drunk, or in the process of getting drunk, and always hit me.

I plopped on her empty bed and sprawled across it. Jane turned around on her swivel computer chair and looked at me. "You can stay here tonight if you want."

"No, I can't. My dad won't be home tonight, so I have to take care of Megan until he gets home tomorrow," I lied. Alice looked at me suspiciously because she knew that wasn't true.

"Oh, okay. Well call if you need anything," Jane said. She turned back around in her chair and got online. Alice looked up at me from the floor and mouthed something silently, so I had to read her lips. "Really?" she mouthed. I shook my head no, and she understood. I just had to be home to cook dinner for Megan and make sure she was okay since she didn't know how to deal with Dad when he was drunk alone. But Jane didn't know any of that.

I looked at the clock. 2:50. Megan was dismissed from school at three. "I have to go pick up Megan. I'll see you guys tomorrow, I guess," I said. "Do you need a ride home, Alice?"

"No, I think I'm going to stay here tonight," she said. "See you tomorrow."

"And call us if you need anything or need to talk! Love ya," Jane smiled.

"Bye guys," I waved. I ran downstairs and headed for my car. I got inside and turned on the air conditioner and drove off towards the elementary.

I was about five minutes late and Megan was already waiting outside the front door for me. She waved and ran over to the car and opened the door and dropped her bag on the floor, putting her seatbelt on. "Hi Bella! How was your day?" she asked happily.

"Good!" I lied. "And yours?"

"Great! I love school." She proceeded to tell me more stories of what fun things they did in art class and so on. She was always so positive and happy about everything. She always put me into a better mood.

When I got inside, I was thankful that Dad had apparently drunken himself into a coma because he was passed out on the couch.

When he woke up a few hours later, he was fuming. "I'm starving! You better make me food right now!" he demanded. I gulped, and nodded my head.

I went into the kitchen and made spaghetti, what I'd learned was my Dad's favorite, just to make sure he'd be satisfied with the food. He ate it and saved a portion of it for Megan.

There was none left for me.

He began walking into the living room and I sat down at the island in the kitchen. When he saw me sit down, he immediately turned on his heel and slapped me across the face. "Why are you sitting down?! You know I need a beer to go with this! Go get it!" he shouted.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"Sorry doesn't cut it. Now you owe me two beers. Don't waste time!" He went back into the living room and I proceeded to be his slave and served him his bottles of alcohol and went straight upstairs to go to bed early.

Barely ten minutes passed and Megan walked in. "Bella?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can I sleep in here tonight? I don't want to be alone. Daddy's been scaring me lately." I nodded my head and she shuffled in, eyes drooping, and I could tell she was about to fall asleep. I grabbed an extra pillow and blanket from my closet and set them up on the floor for her. She lay down on the makeshift bed on the floor and I turned off the light and got into my own bed.

"Night, Megan," I whispered, but she was already asleep.


	3. Meet My New Girlfriend!

**Not mine:(**

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**Ch. 3 "Meet My New Girlfriend!"**

The bell rang signifying first period was over. "Bella, may I have a word with you?" Mrs. Sandoval asked politely. "I'll write you a note for your next class if you run late."

I nodded and walked up to her desk. She was sitting on her swivel chair and looked up at me, folding her hands together on the surface of the desk. "I'm concerned about your grades. You were doing so well at the beginning of the year, but then it just starting dropping." I just looked at her. "Now, I know you know all the material – you pass every test with flying colors – but every time I assign homework, you never get it done. All this incomplete work is sabotaging your grades."

I still didn't say anything. I wasn't going to tell her why I never got my homework done. If I did that, she'd get concerned, and start monitoring me, or check up on my father, or get the police involved. Police always attracted attention, and attention was the last thing I wanted, or needed, for that matter. I didn't need help. As far as I was concerned, I had everything completely under control. As much as I didn't want attention, I wanted help even less.

"There are only four weeks left before the end of the semester. You're one of the brightest students I have, and I'm not going to fail you. But, I can't just raise your grade. There's no way you'll be able to catch up on your own, so I'm giving you two options." She looked at me seriously. "Your first option is, you can stay and do extra work assignments after school every day until you raise your grades." I couldn't do that, because I had to be responsible for picking up Megan from school and cooking dinner, so I waited for her to give me my other choice. "Or, you can tutor a student three days a week, any time after school. I'll give you bonus points each time you have a study session with the student." That was perfect. I was usually good at explaining things to people, so it shouldn't be that hard. Plus, it wasn't directly after school every day, so I could pick up Meg, feed her, and then go tutor in the evening.

"Your choice…?" Mrs. Sandoval coaxed.

"I'll tutor."

"Great. I know you'd be a good tutor, and heaven knows I have a few students who need it," she laughed. "I think I want to pair you up with…" She was looking at her grade book, deciding who had the worst grades and needed the most help, then smiled. "Ah!" She pointed her finger at a name in the book. "Edward Cullen. I already told him I was going to set him up with a tutor, but I haven't told him who yet, so if you see him at lunch, or in another class maybe, could you tell him for me?"

_I'd rather not,_ I thought. "Sure," I said reluctantly. The absolute worst person she could have me tutor is the person she picks. Fantastic.

"Thank you. This is just a weight off my shoulders. I hate failing students." _Thanks, Mrs. Sandoval. I may have taken a weight off your shoulders, but you just dropped a mountain on mine._

I smiled and nodded, and she wrote me an excuse for being tardy for my next class. I thanked her and headed to my locker.

To my great disdain, I saw Edward standing in front of his locker, making out with a skinny blond. I guess he was skipping class to suck face. At least once I got my books, he wouldn't be there in my next class with me.

"Bella! My _best friend!_" he laughed, causing the slut he was with to break out into hysterics.

"Haha," I said unenthusiastically, avoiding his gaze and exchanging books in my locker. I stood up straight to walk to second period, thankful to get away from Edward, but unfortunately, he said, "Sorry babe, but I better get to class. I won't get a detention if I at least show up," to the girl. Normally, tardiness would earn a detention, but Edward seemed to get away with everything. He'd just smile and laugh and the teacher would loosen up. He just had that effect on most people. Not me. I don't know why people liked him so much.

I was on my way to history, and Edward was chasing after me. "So Bella! How's your day been?"

"It was pretty good. Up until you started following me, like two seconds ago," I said harshly. I was darting to class, not looking at him, but he reached forward and grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to face him. "Ow! Dammit!" I yelled, removing his hand from my shoulder and rubbing it. It still hadn't fully healed. "Don't touch me!"

"Jesus! It's not like I hit you or anything! What's your problem?!" He actually looked offended.

"You! YOU are the problem. You're always such an asshole to me!"

He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, and then closed it. Then he opened it again. "Well… Maybe you should stick up for yourself once in a while!" Then he opened the door to history and slammed it in my face. I sighed and opened the door, then stepped inside, handing Mr. Bernath my tardy note from Mrs. Sandoval. He examined it, and nodded his head. "Okay. Thank you. Please take your seat."

I did as I was told and sat next to Edward, who glared at me every chance he got. I didn't know how I was going to tell him I had to be his tutor if he kept acting like that.

"Okay class, I want you all to do questions one through forty-five on page 187. I have to go make copies for your next assignment, so I'll be back in about ten minutes. I expect you all to be quiet and do your work." We all knew that wouldn't happen.

He left, and as soon as the door was closed, papers were being thrown, desks were being flipped, and everyone was yelling. Except Edward. He was in the corner with a girl – a different girl than the one in the hallway – and was making out with her, grabbing her butt and smirking. No one acted like this was strange; most people expected this of Edward by now.  
I couldn't believe what a scumbag he was. Not only was he a jerk to me, but he was also cheating on the blond I saw in the hallway.

Emmett stuck his head out the door and looked down the hallway. He turned around and yelled, "Shh! Bernath is coming back!" Everyone scrambled to get back in their seats and act like they were working. Mr. Bernath walked in with a smile on his face as he waved a freshly printed stack of papers in the air. "More work, ladies and gentleman! Enjoy!" He passed them out, and there was a chorus of sighs and groans at the extra work. Mr. Bernath seemed pretty proud of himself.

The bell rang, and I went to my next class. It seemed to speed by, which scared me, because I was going to have to tell Edward today about the tutoring. I'd probably have to do it at lunch, since he was probably going to sit with Jasper, who would probably sit with Alice, who would sit next to me.

I made it through my next few classes, and found myself walking towards the cafeteria for lunch. I went through the lunch line and paid, then sat at my usual table. Jane and Alice hadn't arrived yet, so I was alone. I felt like a nerd sitting by myself, so I looked around to see if they had gotten their food yet. Jane was at the end of the lunch line, and Alice was nowhere to be seen. I looked around some more to see if I could find Alice, but I still couldn't find her. Instead, I saw Edward paying for his food. As he walked off with his tray, he turned his head to a short redhead and pecked her lips. It was yet another girl. She smiled and waved and walked away. He walked toward the tables and sat across the table from me.

"Bella." He nodded.

"Edward."

"I'm only sitting here because Jasper is probably going to sit here. So yeah," he said, not looking at me.

I figured now was as good a time as ever to tell him. "Edward, Mrs. Sandoval talked to me. She's making me tutor you."

He looked up and looked confused. "You? You never do your work."

"Just because I don't do it doesn't mean I don't know it," I shot back.

"Hm. I really don't want to work with you," he said seriously.

"Me either. But it's only four weeks, three lessons a week for an hour."

"I don't know if I can stand twelve hours with you."

"Wow! You can do basic math! At least we don't have to work on that," I rolled my eyes.

He flipped me off. "You better not sabotage me."

I ignored him as Jane sat next to me. "Hey Bella." I smiled. She narrowed her eyes at Edward, still mad at him for what he did to me the previous day.

"And hi to you too, Jane!" he smirked.

"Jackass," she growled. Emmett and Zack came and sat down on either side of Edward. They bumped knuckles and threw fries at each other. "You three are idiots," Jane said.

"Eh, I'm okay with that," Emmett shrugged. Finally, Alice and Jasper walked down and were smiling, holding hands.

"Hey! No PDA!" Edward pointed at them.

"You're one to talk, Edward," Jasper kidded, sitting down next to Alice. "So guess what you guys!" he said excitedly. "Meet my new girlfriend!" His kissed Alice on the cheek, and her face turned tomato red.

"Aww!" Jane cooed. "Since when?"

"Just now. I just asked her like, five minutes ago," Jasper laughed.

"Finally dude. I mean, that took forever. I was just about to ask her for you!" Zack said.


	4. Homework

**Not mine :(**

* * *

_**Ch. 4 Homework**_

School finally ended, which was bittersweet, considering going home wasn't going to be much fun, either. I was at my locker getting my bag when Edward started talking to me. "So. When do you want to start this tutoring thing?" he asked indifferently.

"Um, whenever. It has to be in the evenings though, like at six," I replied, trying to be at least civil with him. We'd have to be alone together for three hours a week, so we might as well at least get along.

"Okay, how about we start tonight? I don't get today's calculus homework."

"Sure. I don't know where you live though," I responded.

"Oh, we're doing it at my house?" he asked. I didn't think going to his house would be a problem. I just assumed he'd be okay with it, because there was no way I was taking him to my house, where my dad would be a complete embarrassment with all the empty beer bottles strewn everywhere.

"Yeah, if that's okay…? My house won't work," I said.

"Oh. Okay. Well. I'll give you my address." He grabbed my hand and took a pen out of his locker and wrote down where he lived on my hand.

"Um, thanks…" I said quietly, looking down at the ink on my palm. He nodded and walked off. Jane came up behind me and gave me a hug.

"Hey girl!" she smiled. "What was that about?" she asked, referring to my conversation with Edward.

"I have to tutor him now," I rolled my eyes.

"Ew. He's an ass. I feel bad for you. But I need a ride home. Sarah Johnson took me to school, but she left early, I don't know why. So, care to be my driver?" she smiled wide.

"Yeah," I smiled. "I'm taking Alice home too."

"Cool. I need to talk to you guys," she smirked.

"Great." We went out to the parking lot and found Alice was waiting by my car.

"Jeez, what took you so long?!" she laughed. "I've been waiting here for like, ten minutes!"

"Sorry," I said, unlocking the door so we could all pile in. Alice sat in back and Jane was  
in the passenger seat.

"So you guys, I have an idea," Jane smirked.

"Oooh! What for?" Alice questioned.

"Well, we need to get revenge on Edward for being such a jerk to Bella," she smirked.

"Whatever you do, don't let him think it was me. I have to tutor him until the end of the semester and I don't want him to be mean to me while I'm tutoring him," I said.

"You have to tutor Edward?! That sucks," Alice said to me. She turned her head to Jane and started talking to her. "What exactly do you plan on doing?"

"Actually, I've already thought of something." She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and passed it back to Alice.

"This is it? This is your big idea? It's a bunch of shit. It's not even funny," Alice said, handing it back to her.

"It is so funny!" Jane defended.

"What's it say, anyway?" I asked, not removing my eyes from the road.

"You'll see. I'm going to put it on his locker tomorrow," Jane said.

We got to Jane's house, which was just before the elementary school, and dropped her off. I waved as she entered her house and drove to the elementary school and picked up Megan.

"Hey guys!" Megan smiled as she buckled herself in.

"Hi!" Alice and I said.

"Meg, I'm going to start tutoring after six from now on, so you'll be home alone. It's only three days a week, and only four weeks. I'm going to fix you supper then head out. So while I'm gone, I want you to go upstairs and do your homework in your bedroom until I get home. Try to avoid Dad as much as possible when I'm not home, okay?"

"Okay. I'll miss you," she said sadly.

"I'll miss you too, Meg."

"Aw, Meg, you're so cute!" Alice cooed from the backseat, making my sister smile.

I arrived at Alice's house and she left.

When we got back to my house, Meg and I went inside and I fixed an early dinner for her and Dad. Dad was in the living room, drinking excessively, so I figured it wouldn't be very long until he passed out, so I made sure he ate before he did pass out.

I handed him a plate of the chicken I made, as well as Megan. I ate a few bites and decided I wasn't really hungry. I did a load of laundry and folded the newly washed clothes.

Before I knew it, it was 5:45; fifteen minutes until I had to be at Edward's. I sighed and went into Megan's room where she was doing her homework.

"Hey, I'm going to go to Edward's now to tutor. If you need anything, or if there's an emergency, call my cell phone immediately, okay?" She nodded. "Remember, just stay up here and try to avoid Dad. Bye, Megan."

She hugged me. "Bye Bella." I smiled and ran downstairs to grab a hoodie to cover my bruises and my car keys. "Hey dad, I'll be back a little later," I informed him. I knew he didn't care where I was, or who I was with or what I was doing, but I told him I was leaving anyway.

"Okay," was all he said. I stepped out the front door and got into my car and sat in the front seat for a minute, mentally preparing myself for what I was about to do. I sighed and turned on the car, following the directions on my hand.

His house was easy to find. I cut the engine in his driveway and walked up to the front door. When I rang the doorbell, a tall woman who I assumed was Edward's mom opened the door, a smile plastered on her face.

"Hello! Are you Bella Swan? The girl tutoring Edward?" the woman asked politely, with a thick, British accent.

"Yeah, that's me," I smiled. She seemed too nice to be Edward's mom.

"He's in his room upstairs. It's the first room on the left," she instructed, allowing me to come inside.

I walked upstairs and peered in Edward's room. The door was ajar and he was sitting on the edge of his bed, strumming his guitar. I knocked and he turned his head. "Oh, hi. Come in," he said, setting his guitar down.

I walked inside and took in my surroundings. There were band posters covering his walls: New Found Glory, Blink-182, Something Corporate. CDs were stacked in one corner and dozens of guitar picks were scattered across the floor, along with most of his clothes. I sat in the chair at the computer desk and opened my calculus book.

He looked up at me. "Bella, I don't want this to be awkward. If we're going to be together this often, we should at least get along."

"Yeah. I'd like that," I agreed.

"You know, you can take your hoodie off. It's burning hot in here and my air conditioner's fucked up," he offered.

"No, it's fine. I feel fine," I lied. I was actually starting to sweat from the heat, but I couldn't risk him seeing the marks on my arms from my dad.

"Okay, whatever. So. How should we do this thing?" he asked.

"Well, let's just start from the beginning. What part don't you get?" I asked, showing him the homework Mrs. Sandoval assigned us.

"All of it," he admitted.

-------

About an hour and a half later, we had completed the assignment. I still wasn't sure if he actually understood what I was teaching him, but it was only the first lesson, in his defense. I was still sitting in the computer chair and we were just talking about random things since we got the work done.

I was thoroughly surprised. He was actually being nice to me, _really_ nice in fact. "Edward, can I ask you something?" I inquired.

"Yeah, sure."

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" I was so confused.

"I don't know. I mean, you seem like a cool girl, now that I've gotten to know you a little," he divulged.

"So then why are you so rude to me at school?"

He shrugged. "I guess I just like people to think that I'm… I don't know… cool or something. People usually laugh, so I just go with it."

"You know, it really hurts me," I confessed.

"I'm sorry. I'm not really a bad guy, I just don't always do the smartest things. But then I guess that's why I need a tutor, huh?"

Then he smirked at me.

**Picture of Edward's room on my profile.**


	5. Overly Protective

Not mine :(

* * *

_**Ch. 5 Overly Protective**_

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

"Alright dude, see you at lunch," Jasper said, pounding my knuckle as we separated to go to our lockers. I was about to reach out to spin my combination when I saw a piece of paper taped to the front of my locker. I ripped it off and read it. _'_Edward_ from Essex has had sex with all his exes'_ I dropped it and laughed out loud. Whoever did this was a complete moron.

Emmett walked over with a confused look on his face. "What's so funny?" I picked up the paper off the ground and handed it to him. I watched as he read it himself. "Why are you laughing? They're calling you a man whore. It's making fun of you."

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

Alice, Jane, and I were standing in a circle at Alice's locker directly across from Edward's and we were eavesdropping on he and Emmett as they read the paper.

"I know! It's hilarious. Besides, I'm proud to be a man whore. I like sex," Edward exclaimed gladly.

"You're proud to be a man whore?" Emmett looked puzzled.

"Hell yeah! Gays are proud to be homosexual, and groups of lions are _called_ prides, and _everyone_ loves a gay lion, so why doesn't everyone love a horny Edward?" He paused, but Emmett just stared at him unbelievingly. "See? Everything comes full circle," Edward joked, making a circle with his index finger in the air.

"You're an idiot." Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Who cares? Besides, I didn't sleep with _all_ of my exes. Remember Vicki?" Edward shuddered.

"Okay, I'll give you that one. Why did you ever go out with her in the first place?" Emmett asked.

Edward shrugged. "My mom grounded me from using my car and her car was awesome."

The three of us looked at each other. "How could he be so shallow?" Jane whispered, utterly disgusted.

"Good job, Jane. He actually _likes_ it. I told you that was a stupid idea. It's not even funny. It just makes you look like an idiot," Alice said.

"Oh well, he doesn't know it was me," Jane defended.

Just then, Edward walked over, books now in hand. "Bella, we still on for tonight at six?"

I nodded, sincerely hoping he didn't realize we were just eavesdropping on him.

"Great. Well, I'll see you first period."

I smiled and he walked off.

"Wow, he's being nice all of a sudden," Alice discovered.

"Yeah… Well, we discussed it last night. We're going to at least _try_ to get along from now on since I'm tutoring him," I informed them.

"Hm…" Jane narrowed her eyes. "Just don't get in over your head with him, okay? I don't want you to get hurt." Jane was very protective of me, since I always got picked on. She was one of those people who would always stand up for her friends and wouldn't let anyone trash talk them.

"I know, I know," I waved her off. "I have to get my books. We only have like, two minutes. See you guys," I smiled. I got my books and headed for calculus.

I opened the door and saw Edward at Mrs. Sandoval's desk. She looked up at me when she saw me walk in. "Bella! Can I talk to you?"

I went over and stood next to Edward. "So, how did things go at your first tutoring session?" she asked, hopeful.

"Pretty good," I answered.

"Are you starting to understand it, Edward?" She looked at him.

"Yeah, it's a little clearer," he responded.

She smiled. "Great! That's what I wanted to hear. Now, go get in your seats."

We complied, and Edward and I actually got along. It was such a relief. And not only that, but we got along in every class, all day. I was so grateful.

-------

It was finally 5:45, and I was on my way out the door to go to Edward's when my Dad came up behind me. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" He was furious. I was surprised he cared I was leaving though, because he usually didn't care enough about me to be worried about where I was going.

"I was just – um, going to Edward's…" I stuttered.

"A _boy?_ Are you a slut or something?!" he slurred. He was way past drunk.

"No! I'm not a _slut,_ Dad! I'm his _tutor!_" I shot back.

His face was red with rage and he was breathing in short, angry huffs. "Don't you back-talk me!" He struck me hard on my cheek.

I pressed my hand to where he hit me, and felt the hot stinging sensation under my fingers. Tears rolled down my cheeks and his face fell soft. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it!"

I shook my head and slammed the door in his face. I was getting so sick of this.


	6. Unexpected Phone Calls

_**Ch. 6 Unexpected Phone Calls**_

I knocked on Edward's bedroom door and he opened it with a smile. "Hey Bella."

"Hi Edward," I smiled.

"Wait, what happened?" he asked, referring to the handprint on my face.

"Oh, you mean the bruise?" I was stalling. I had to come up with a lie, quick. "Um… I just got into a little fight after school, is all. No big deal." I was trying to downplay the severity of the situation

His jaw dropped. "No big deal? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, really," I insisted, forcing a smile.

Edward nodded his head slowly, clearly not believing me, but not wanting to push the subject any further.

-------

Forty-five minutes later, I had tried my hardest to cram as much information in his head as possible. It finally seemed like he was catching on.

"Good job," I grinned.

"Thanks. So… What do you want to do now?"

"Um, well I should probably go…" I trailed off.

"You don't have to. I mean, if you don't want to…"

"I'd really like to stay, but I actually have to get home. My Dad said he wanted me home by seven," I lied.

"Oh. Okay. Well thanks for the help. Same time tomorrow?"

I nodded. "See you then."

-------

"Back from your booty call?" my Dad asked harshly as I walked in the front door. I ignored him and continued into the kitchen to fix dinner. He followed me, half-empty bottle of beer in hand. "Oh! You just going to avoid me? Is that it?" he slurred.

"Dad, I'm cooking. I'm trying to concentrate," I said calmly as I prepared dinner.

"Bullshit! You can't cook and listen at the same time?!" he screamed.

I turned around and leaned against the counter, folding my arms across my chest. I was trying to look as calm and composed as possible. It was hard, considering I wasn't either of those things. "Dad, can we please just skip this fighting for this one night? I mean, aren't you getting tired of this? I know I am."

"Don't you tell me what to do, young lady!" He grabbed my arm and twisted it hard, then threw it down to my side. "Maybe that'll teach you to respect your elders for once."

I bent over, and pinched my face in pain as I held my swollen arm with my other hand.

"Oh, stop it. It'll go away," he grumbled.

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

Bella walked out the door and smiled, and I smiled back. I sat on the edge of my bed and fell backwards, sighing. Why did I suddenly not want her to leave?

My cell phone rang, and Jasper's name showed up on the screen. I clicked the talk button. "Hey, Jasper. What's up man?"

"Nothing, bro. Bella leave?" he asked.

"Yeah, she just walked out."

"How's the tutoring going?"

"Pretty good. I think I'm going to ask her to tutor me again tomorrow night. I mean, I know we've already done our three sessions this week, but I think one more won't hurt."

"Are you sick? Since when does EdwardCullen attempt to put in more effort in academics than necessary? Is there something going on I should know about, mister?" he asked.

"No. I just think it's time I start to buckle down," I said confidently.

"Aw, does somebody have a crush?" he cooed.

"No! No one has a crush! Besides, we're too old for crushes." I replied. He ignored me, making kissy noises into the phone. "Jasper, stop it! You're not funny."

"Just admit it. You're just going to have a 'study session' then make out with her. Come on, say it," he demanded.

"I will not say anything. There's nothing to admit to. I'm hanging up, Jackass." I hit the red End button and looked at the phone for a second, contemplating what to do. I dialed a number I'd never dialed before and waited for someone to pick up.

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

The cell phone in my pocket rang, creating yet another distraction from finishing dinner. No name appeared, and I didn't recognize the number. "Hello?" I asked, the puzzlement evident in my voice.

"Bella? It's Edward."

"Oh. Hey, Edward," I responded, nestling the phone in the crook of my neck to free up my hands to finish the food. My arm was still sore from my Dad, but I continued to cook.

"Hey. I just called because… Well, I wanted to know if it would be okay for you to tutor me again tomorrow night. If you're able to, anyway."

"Oh. Um. Sure. I can do that," I replied. I found it hard to believe that EdwardCullen would be asking to do homework. It certainly was out of the ordinary.

"Okay, cool. And also, could you give me a ride home tomorrow? Jasper's taking me to school, but he has to leave early for a doctor's appointment. We can just go to my house from school."

"Yeah. But I have to pick up my little sister from the elementary too, so if you can stand being in a car with a six year-old, it should be okay," I laughed.

"That's fine. Thanks, Bella. See you tomorrow." He hung up, and I hung up as well.

Dinner was finally done, and I placed the food on three different plates. I brought out two plates into the living room for Megan and Dad, and they ate in front of the television. I ended up eating alone in the kitchen.

-------

The next day at lunch, Edward, Emmett and Zack sat with Alice, Jane and I. It became normal for them to sit with us, since Jasper and Alice started dating. Jasper would have been there, but he left early that day to go to the doctor's.

Edward was looking at me a lot, which I found kind of strange. Every time he looked, Jane would glare at him and Alice would smile at me like she knew something I didn't. After he'd looked at me about a hundred times, Emmett slapped him on the back of the head. "Jesus, Edward! Let her eat in peace. Don't keep staring at her, that's weird."

I blushed. "Aw! Look! Bella is blushing!" Zack pointed at me.

"No I'm not! It's just really hot in here," I defended.

"It is _not_ hot in here. It's freezing cold in the cafeteria. It always is," Emmett jumped in.

"Well _I'm_ hot!" I shot back.

"I bet Edward thinks so!" Zack laughed.

Edward slapped him. "Fuck you, Zack."

"You want to fuck Bella!" Zack joked.

"Will you shut up?!" I'd never seen Edward actually get mad at his friends before. He furrowed his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest and slunk in his seat. He was pouting like a baby.

The rest of us mostly stayed quiet for the rest of the lunch period. It was kind of awkward, with Edward in such a bad mood, and the rest of us just ate our food and went to sixth period.

-------

I made it through the rest of the day, and at the end of the day, I met Edward at my car. I smiled, and he smiled back. "Sorry about my friends at lunch today," he said quietly.

"That's fine," I chuckled. "You ready?" I asked, desperate for a subject change.

He nodded and got in the passenger seat. I drove to the elementary and picked up Megan. She sat in the backseat behind me and leaned her head into the front section of seats with a smile on her face. "Who's that?" she pointed at Edward.

"Don't point! That's rude, Meg," I scolded.

"No, it's okay," Edward assured me. "I'm Edward," he smiled at her.

"I'm Megan. Are you friends with Bella?" Oh god, what was she doing? This was going to be awkward, since we weren't really ever friends, we were nothing more than a girl and a boy who used to hate each other, and now, just a tutor and her pupil. If you could even call Edward a pupil.

He looked at me, then back at her. "Yeah," he smiled. "I guess we are friends. Aren't we?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied.

"That's cool," Megan sat back, seeming satisfied.

We got to my house and I waited in the driveway for Megan to get out. She just sat in the backseat, not moving. "Are you going in?" I coaxed.

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

"Well, aren't you?" Megan asked Bella.

"No. Edward and I are going to his house. You need to go inside and do your homework. I'll be home later to fix dinner," Bella replied. I looked at her funny when she said that, but she ignored me. I had to wonder why one of her parents couldn't take care of her sister while Bella wasn't home.

Megan scoffed. "But Bella! I don't want to go inside with Daddy!" Bella looked at her authoritatively in the rearview mirror, but Megan wouldn't back down. Megan, a six year-old girl, didn't want to see her Dad. I couldn't believe it. I had a seven year-old cousin who wouldn't go _anywhere_ without her father, so I found this very hard to believe. I wanted to ask why Megan didn't want to go inside, but I didn't want to invade their privacy.

"Just go upstairs and stay in your bedroom. I'm only going to be gone for a little while, okay?" Bella instructed. Megan sighed and opened the door and took her backpack to the house with her and went inside.

The drive to my house was silent, simply because neither of us knew what to say. I had so many questions after just the last fifteen minutes, but I didn't know how to ask them, or even if I should.


	7. Clarity

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 7 Clarity_**

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW.

An hour later, all of the homework was completed. Truth be told, I understood everything. Every last bit. But I wanted Bella to be there, and even at that point, I still didn't know why. There was something different about her, something I'd never seen in any other girl before, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Desperate for something to do to keep her here, I suggested we watch a movie. "Sure," she replied. "But I don't think I can stay for the whole thing. I have to get home pretty soon."

"Well, at least you can watch part of it. What movie do you want to watch? I've got Mean Girls, Juno…" I listed them off.

"Mean Girls and Juno? Aren't those kind of girl movies?" she teased.

"No! They're very manly," I insisted confidently, flexing my barely-there biceps, causing her to giggle. At that moment, when she laughed and smiled, was the moment I realized why she was different. She was gorgeous. I'd dated hot girls, but I'd never really seen a girl who was…beautiful. All the years I made her life a living hell, I think I always knew that she was different then too, but I continued to pick on her. I think it was easier that way, just to act like I didn't feel anything for her. The other girls, the sluttier girls, were always so willing to put out, so I kind of pushed whatever feelings I had for Bella aside. I knew that trying to get her to like me was going to be hard work, and I wasn't willing at the time to put forth the effort. But at that moment was when I realized that the extra work would be worth it. She was worth it.

"Ah, whatever you say Edward," she smiled her gorgeous smile again. "How about Juno?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I put my hand to my forehead, saluting her, causing her to laugh yet again. I turned on the television and DVD player and slid the disc into the tray and hit Play on the remote.

She positioned herself on my bed, leaning against the headboard, and I sat next to her.

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

Edward sat beside me and I suddenly felt different about him. I liked being this close to him. It was comforting, empowering somehow, like I gained the strength of the world for that one moment and could conquer anything.

We were about ten minutes into the movie, and Edward clicked the Pause button on the remote. He turned to look at me and said, "You know what? I'm getting bored with this. Are you?"

"Yeah, a little," I lied. I'd seen this movie a hundred times, and I loved it so much that it never seemed to get old. But if he didn't want to keep watching it, I wasn't going to make him.

"We should have a little confession session. A truth booth, if you will," he suggested with a smirk, chuckling at his own stupid joke.

"Well, aren't you just the poet!" I laughed.

"Nothing but," he smiled. "Here, I'll go first."

"First? Who says I'm going at all?"

"Me!" he smiled. "Just be glad you're not spilling your guts first." He repositioned himself on the bed and sat in front of me rather than beside me, and looked into my eyes. "First, I just want to say, I'm really sorry for being an asshole to you for all those years. Really," he said sincerely.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's fine. Thanks for apologizing." He nodded.

I sighed. "I guess it's my turn, isn't it?" He nodded again and smiled. "Hm… I'm trying to be selective in what I tell you…" I laughed. "Well, I guess I should tell you that the paper on your locker a few days ago was written by Jane. She was mad at you for what you did to me at lunch the day before. I know it was pretty stupid, but she thought it would get you back. Alice and I tried to convince her that it wasn't even funny, but she was so determined!" I chuckled.

He laughed. "That was for revenge?" he asked unbelievingly, and I nodded and laughed. "Wow. She's bad at payback! I just thought it was someone trying to be an idiot. I didn't take it seriously. But at least she did something. I was being a real dick." He paused and looked down, fumbling with his fingers. "My turn again, I guess," he said quietly, and I nodded. "Okay, well, I know what I'm going to say, I just don't know how to say it…"

I waited for him to go on, but he still didn't say anything. Instead, he closed the gap between us and brushed his lips against mine softly. It was sweet and simple, but with so much passion. He pulled back, and looked at me, smiling.

"Your turn."

**Yay! They kissed. **


	8. Issues

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 8 Issues_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

A few weeks passed, meaning that the semester was over. Edward and I both passed calculus with B's. This upset me a little, because I knew I could've gotten an A, but my grade was so low that the tutoring couldn't have brought it up enough for that. Edward, however, was floored; he'd never gotten a grade that high outside of English class. Even though the tutoring stopped, it just became routine for Edward and I to hang out.

It was finally autumn, and the leaves were changing colors to reds, browns, yellows and oranges. Our lawn was covered in fallen leaves, which meant that I'd have to rake them sometime soon. I was putting it off for as long as I could.

It was Saturday, and Alice came over and asked if I wanted to go with her to Jane's house. I accepted her offer, and quickly put together a sandwich for Megan for lunch and took it upstairs to her. She thanked me, and pressed it to her lips, which were bleeding, courtesy of Dad. I hugged her and told her I'd be gone for a while and went outside to Alice's car. "Ready?" she asked through the driver's side window.

"Yep." We went to Jane's house, and immediately went upstairs to her bedroom.

"Hey guys. What's going on?" Jane asked as she logged off whatever she was doing on the Internet.

"Nothing much. You?" I asked lazily.

"Eh. The usual," Jane shrugged. "But I do have to ask you something, Bella," she said seriously.

"Okay, shoot."

"What's up with you and Edward all of a sudden? You're always hanging out now, and you used to hate each other. I mean, I know you two got to know each other when you tutored him, but I'm worried. I mean, I'm your best friend Bella, and I just don't want you to get in over your head with a guy like that."

I furrowed my eyes, and suddenly got defensive. For the first time, I wanted to say something nice about Edward. I felt obligated to defend him. "What do you mean, a guy like that?"

She sighed. "Bella, don't get mad. You know what I mean; the popular guy that all the girls go after even though he cheats on all of them. The asshole. Don't act like you don't know."

"Okay, first of all, he hasn't been with a single girl since I started tutoring him. Not one. Second, not all of the girls go after him. Are you chasing him around? Are Alice and I? No, no and no." I really wasn't chasing him around. But I kind of wished he would chase me around. I really was falling for him, but I knew it wouldn't go anywhere. I knew he didn't feel the same way about me. Sure, he kissed me once, but I think it was just the heat of the moment. There weren't any real feelings behind it. "And thirdly," I continued, "Edward is not an asshole. He's actually very sweet. You just haven't given him a chance."

Her jaw dropped and I stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind me. I couldn't believe how infuriated I was with her. She didn't know what she was talking about. She didn't know him like I knew him.

I was standing in the hallway outside Jane's bedroom and I could hear Alice say, "Hold on, I'll go talk to her," from behind the thin wooden door.

She opened the door and looked at me like a parent does when their child breaks a rule and they know it. "What?" I said, annoyed.

"You know what. She was just being protective of you. She doesn't want you to get hurt."

"I don't care! I'm a big girl! I can make decisions for myself. She doesn't need to act like my mother. I've gone six years without one and I'm doing just fine!" I yelled, balling my fists, allowing the tears to cascade down my cheeks in rage.

She didn't say anything and looked at me apologetically. I felt like I was going to cry, and I probably looked like it too. "Bella, it's okay, don't cry…" She hugged me close to her and I cried into her shoulder. I knew I didn't really have a reason to cry; that happened six years ago. I was over it. Wasn't I?

Jane walked out of her bedroom. "Bella? Are you crying?" She hugged me from the side that Alice wasn't on and said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. You know I just don't want you to get hurt."

I pulled away from both of them and looked down. "I know. I know. I'm not mad. I just miss my mom, I guess." I sighed. "I think I'm going to go home. I'll see you guys later."

-------

Later that day, I was cooking dinner as Megan sat at the island beside me, doing homework. Dad, of course, was passed out on the couch in the living room. I heard the doorbell ring, and assumed it was Alice, so I yelled, "Come in."

I walked into the living room where the front door was and was shocked. Edward was in my house.

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

"Come in," I heard Bella's voice yell from inside. I turned the doorknob, and the first thing I saw was a man I assumed to be Bella's dad passed out on the couch. Beer bottles were strewn all over the floor. There had to have been at least a few hundred just lying around.

Bella walked in from another room and gasped. "Edward! Oh my god! What are you doing here?!" She was trying to look happy, but I could tell she wasn't, but I didn't know why. She immediately ran in front of me, blocking any view I could've had into the rest of the house.

"Um, I just wanted to know if you wanted to come over to my house…?" I asked, unsure.

"Really? Well, I have to finish cooking supper… But I guess I can… Why don't you come in the kitchen?" she said more than asked.

I followed her into their kitchen, which was small, and with the island in the center, there was hardly any room to walk around. I sat on the little wooden stool set up at the island beside Megan, who was apparently doing her homework.

It was kind of awkward, since Bella was cooking and I was just sitting there with her six year-old sister, and it was even stranger since I just saw her Dad who looked like he drank himself into a coma.

"So, um…" I started, desperate for conversation, "What are you doing, Megan?"

"Homework," she said simply, not removing her eyes from the paper as she scribbled down an answer. They were acting like this day was as normal as any other, as if it wasn't out of the ordinary for the floor to be covered in empty beer bottles.

"Sorry about the wait, Edward. I'm sure it isn't much fun to sit and watch my little sister do homework," she laughed as she pulled down a plate from the cupboard. "I'm almost done."

"It's okay," I said, for lack of something better to say.

Bella turned around and handed Megan a plate of food, then carried another one into the living room. I watched as she set one on an end table beside the couch where her father was. She came back in and smiled. "I'm ready if you are."

"Yep. Aren't you going to eat, though?" I asked.

"No, we didn't have enough. I have to go to the grocery store sometime," she said quietly.

"Oh. Okay." I didn't really know how to respond to that. Everything seemed backward here. There seemed to be a role reversal with her and her Dad.

"I'll be home later, Meg. When you're done eating, just go straight to your room, okay?" she whispered. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear that or not. She hugged her and followed me out the door.

I opened the door for her and she looked confused. "Thanks, Edward," she grinned. I smiled and nodded, and got into the driver's seat. "You want to go eat somewhere? I'm starving," I suggested, since she evidently didn't eat dinner.

"Yeah, I'm really hungry!" she chuckled.

I drove to a little restaurant and the waitress led us to a booth by the window. She took our orders and left.

I was really curious about what I just witnessed at her house, and took a leap. "Um, Bella? Can I ask you something?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, anything," she smiled.

"Is everything okay at your house? I mean, with your parents?" I nearly whispered.

She paused and drew in a deep breath. "Actually, my Mom passed away when I was eleven when she had Megan. My Dad just still hasn't gotten over it. He drinks a lot…" she trailed off. She seemed like she wanted to say something more, but hesitated.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. That must've been really hard," I said sincerely.

"It was. I pretty much take care of Megan and my Dad on my own," she admitted. I stayed quiet, again not sure what to say. I don't think I've ever had a day in my life where I didn't know what to say so many times. I usually never shut up, but with everything I learned today, I felt like I just didn't know English anymore.

The waitress came back with our food, and we ate, making small talk. I paid the bill, after Bella tried many times to pay but I wouldn't let her, and I drove back to her house to drop her off.

We were in the driveway, and she didn't get out; she just waited in the seat, hesitant to move. She was looking out the side window, and it was quiet for a moment. "If you ever need anything, ever, you can always call me. Okay?" I asked, wanting her to know that I'd be there for her.

"I will. And thank you. It means a lot," she half-smiled. I nodded.

She had her handle on the door, like she was about to get out, but she didn't unlatch it. "Hey, since tomorrow's Sunday and we don't have school, you want to do something again tomorrow?" I asked, hoping she'd say yes.

She looked at me and smiled. "I'd like that," she nodded. "But I think I'd better go…" she sighed.

"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow. I can pick you up at five, how about that?"

"Sounds great. See you then," she said, finally unlatching the door handle and getting out. She waved as she walked to her front door, and I waved back, pulling out of her driveway.

I knew this girl had a lot of extra baggage, and I knew that being with her was going to be a lot of work. But I also knew it was worth it.


	9. Water

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 9 Water  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

Megan was at a friend's house, and I was thankful that she wasn't around because Dad and I just got into a huge fight. He had kicked me in the leg, and I could feel a bruise beginning to form, but I pushed it out of my mind as I heard the doorbell ring. Dad rolled his eyes at me and stormed into his bedroom before I opened the door.

I opened the door, a smile on my face as Edward stepped inside. "You ready?"

"Yep!" I grinned.

"Wait, you should change into shorts. You'll want them for where we're going," he exclaimed happily.

"Um, really? Can't I just wear my jeans?" I begged, not wanting him to see the bruise from my Dad.

"No! Just trust me. I'll wait here if you want me to." He was too damn persistent.

I sighed. "Okay, just give me a minute. I'll be right back." I ran upstairs and unbuttoned my pants, taking them off and throwing them into the hamper. I pulled out a pair of red shorts from my drawer and threw them on.

I ran downstairs, now wearing the shorts he wanted me to wear. "Ooh, sexy legs!" he smiled.

"Shut up, Edward," I chuckled.

"Wait, what's that?" he asked seriously, pointing at the blue mark below my knee.

"Um, um, that's just… I fell on the steps and hit my leg. I'm pretty clumsy," I laughed.

"I guess so… That's some bruise," he chuckled.

"So where are we going, exactly?" I asked curious.

"You'll see when we get there," he smirked.

-------

He drove for about an hour, and then he took an unexpected turn off the main road onto a narrow, dirt road. "We're in the middle of nowhere! Where the hell are you taking me?!" I laughed.

"Just trust me. You'll love it." He stopped and cut the engine in front of a creek. Which was all there was: a creek. "This is it! We're here," he exclaimed.

"A creek?" I asked unbelievingly.

"Yep. A creek." He opened his door and got out. I waited in the car with my door open, looking at him like he was crazy, but he didn't seem to care. "Come on!"

I got out and closed the door and followed him. He was already running toward the edge of the creek, and he threw off his shoes and threw them behind him. He turned his head around and smiled at me. He patted the spot of dirt next to him, motioning for me to sit down. "Take your shoes off," he instructed.

I did as I was told and set my shoes beside his and sat down next to him. "Dip your feet in."

He already had his legs dangling off the edge, splashing the cool, running water around with his feet.

I dipped my bare feet in the creek, and felt the cold water swish against my skin. It was calm and serene; the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the water running downstream.

"So do you like it?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, it's really peaceful here. How'd you find this place?" I looked at him.

"My brother used to go here a lot when he got into fights with our parents. He took me here one time and I loved it. Then when he died, I came here a lot, just to be alone. There's never anyone here to bug you and you can just sit and think," he said honestly, looking at the fish jumping in and out of the water's surface. This was a side of Edward I'd never seen before, and it was refreshing. Everyone talked about him like they knew him personally, like they knew him inside-out. But no one ever mentioned anything like this before. I felt like he trusted me because he was opening up a whole new section of his life to me that he'd never shown to anyone else before, except for maybe his band mates. And I felt special. I knew at that moment that I didn't want to let him go.

It was quiet for a moment, and we were both just sitting and enjoying the water and each other's presence. He suddenly turned his head to me. "Bella, can I ask you something?"  
he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I smiled.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked softly.

I inhaled sharply, not expecting that at all. Excitedly, but nervously, I nodded. Edward leaned in slowly, gazing into my eyes as he gently brushed my bangs out of my face. I gulped anxiously as he leaned closer, letting the gap between us disappear. He pressed his lips to mine, letting them linger there for a moment. He smiled into it, and I felt jittery. Butterflies were flying in my stomach and I didn't want the moment to end.

He finally pulled his head back and grinned. "I told you you'd like it here."


	10. The Question

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 10 The Question  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

Monday at school, I was going to my lunch table, my tray in hand. Jasper, Emmett, and Edward were already sitting down. They didn't see me as I got nearer to the table. "Did you ask her yet, bro?" I heard Emmett ask Edward.

"Not yet, god! Stop nagging me about it. I'll do it when the time is right," he said annoyed.

"Edward Cullen waiting to ask a girl out?! Wow, that's different!" Jasper joked. I found this strange, but pushed my thoughts aside.

I set my tray next to Edward and smiled. "Hey guys!" I said as I pulled out my seat and sat down.

"_Bella_! How are you?!" Emmett said with a grin, trying not to laugh. Jasper elbowed Edward in the arm, and Edward hit him back angrily. Jasper and Emmett both burst out laughing.

"Okay, I'm not quite sure what I'm missing, but to answer your question Emmett, I'm doing pretty good. Is there like toilet paper on my shoe or something? I'm not going to lie, all this laughing is starting to worry me," I chuckled.

"Nope. We're not laughing at you!" Jasper assured me. Edward just rolled his eyes.

-------

The rest of the week went on about the same as that day, Edward constantly getting mad at the boys, and they were always picking on him about something, but I didn't know what exactly. Every time I went up to them with Edward around, they started laughing. I was pretty sure this wasn't just coincidental anymore.

That Friday after the bell for dismissal rang, Edward came up to me. "Hey Bella, I was thinking we should do something tomorrow. You up for it?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I'd love that."

"Alright, meet me at the mall around two."

"I'll be there," I nodded.

-------

The next day, I woke up and got around, quickly showering and brushing my hair and teeth. I made pancakes for Megan and Dad and went outside.

I got into my car and went to the mall where Edward had asked me to meet him at. I pulled into the parking lot about twenty-five minutes later, and opened the glass double-doors that led straight to the food court, located in the front of the mall. I scoped the area, and finally found the back of Edward's shaggy, brown haired head sitting at a little flimsy green table, sucking on a straw connected to a red paper cup.

I walked up and sat down across from him, smiling as I set my purse on the ground beside me. "Hi Bella!" he smiled.

"Hey Edward! What's up?"

"I have a surprise for you," he smirked.

"It better be a basket of fries, because I'm starving," I said, stealing one of his.

"Nope. It's better than that. Just wait. But you can have the rest of my fries. I'm full."

"Awesome!" I said, shoving handfuls of fries into my mouth greedily. He laughed. "What? What's so funny?! I'm hungry!"

"Nothing. You just look so lady-like stuffing your face full of greasy, deep-fried potatoes," he chuckled.

"You shut up," I laughed, throwing a fry at his head. "So what's this surprise that you think is better than food?"

"First of all, I know it's better than food, and second of all, it's a surprise, meaning you'll have to wait until you're done eating."

I finished the last few fries and stood up. "Come on!" I exclaimed. I loved surprises. He stood up and grabbed my hand and led me away from the food court. I stopped abruptly, though. "Wait, am I actually going to like this surprise? Or is it something for yourself?" I asked suspiciously.

"No, it's for you, I swear. And yes, I'm positive you'll like it," he smirked mischievously.

He continued to guide me through the thick crowd of rushed people. I watched as he passed by store after store, wondering where he was taking me. We were heading for the wing of the mall where all the designer clothing and jewelry stores were located. Why would he take me here?

He stopped in front of one of the most expensive jewelry stores and looked at me with a smile on his face. "We're here!"

"The jewelry store? Why are we at the jewelry store?" I asked.

"You'll see. Come on." He walked inside and I followed him in.

"Um, so what am I supposed to do, exactly?" I asked, looking around at huge selection of necklaces, bracelets, rings, and other expensive items they had.

"Pick one. Any one you want," he smiled.

I cocked my head to the side and looked at him like he was crazy. "Any one? Edward, I don't have any money with me..."

"You might not, but I do. Just pick one, I have enough money," he tried.

I looked around to make sure no one was listening to my conversation. "Do you realize how expensive this stuff is?!" I whispered so none of the stuck-up Barbie girls would hear me and realize I didn't belong there, as if my appearance wasn't proof enough of that.

"Yep," he said proudly. "Just trust me. Pick one."

I sighed and looked through the glass case covering the necklaces. Every single one had a price tag that was ridiculously high. I picked the least expensive one.

"That one, Edward," I said, pointing to it.

"Really? Did you pick the cheapest one just so I wouldn't pay for something more expensive?" he asked immediately, quirking an eyebrow.

"Maybe?"

He sighed and looked at the necklaces himself. "How about that one?" he asked, sticking his finger on the glass directly above a necklace with a big silver heart encircling a smaller silver heart with a silver chain. "Do you like it?" He looked at me.

The one he pointed at was the one I liked the most of all of them. It was also the most expensive. "Yeah, I do," I breathed. "But I can't accept it. You can't buy that for me," I shook my head.

"Sure I can!" He called over an employee and pointed out the necklace to the man who unlocked the case and took it to the front desk. He rang it up and Edward handed him an outrageous amount of cash. The employee smiled, and went to the next customer.

Edward turned around to me and popped open the box in front of me like he was proposing. "Be my girlfriend?" he smiled sweetly.

I blushed and couldn't help but let my mouth stretch into a smile a mile wide. I kissed him on the lips. "Absolutely."


	11. Warning

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 11 Warning  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

"Bella, if Edward breaks your heart, don't say I didn't tell you so," Jane scolded over the phone.

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn't see me. "I'm a big girl; I think I can handle it," I said, annoyed.

She said some more "Just be careful, you don't know what he's capable of" bullshit, and I held the phone away from my ear, mocking her as she continued talking on the other end, refusing to listen. Unfortunately, she was loud enough that, even with the phone a foot away from my ear, I could still hear her. "Bella? Are you listening to a word I'm saying?"

"Yes, Mother, I heard every word. Can you please shut up? If this is a mistake, please let me make it on my own."

She sighed heavily. "Fine, Bella. But don't come crying to me when he cheats on you. When, not if. Just remember that," she said before hanging up. I rolled my eyes again and flipped my cell phone closed, setting it on the table beside my bed.

"I swear to God, Jane's annoying the shit out of me lately," I complained to Alice who was sitting on a chair across my bedroom.

"She's just trying to be a good friend. This is her own way of handling it, just let it happen." Alice, always the peacemaker, had to throw in the "She just cares about you" bit.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But she's said it so many times. Like she doesn't want me to be happy, you know? I think I deserve to be happy for once." She didn't reply, and sighed as I rolled over on my bed onto my stomach, feet at the headboard, facing Alice. I propped my head up on my elbows and looked at her. "What do you really think of Edward? Really. I want to know."

She inhaled deeply, and then let it out, as if stalling for time. "Well...I think he's...nice…"

"Alice, seriously. Don't sugarcoat it. Just tell me," I begged.

"Well, I really do think he's nice. He's funny, you know. Always the entertainer."

I cocked my head at her, raising my eyebrows, pleading for more.

She sighed and continued. "I just think you should watch your back. He doesn't have the best reputation as far as being faithful You know that; I know that. Just be careful."

I sighed and nodded.

Just then, Megan opened my door and stuck her head in. "Edward and Jasper are here. They're waiting downstairs."

"Oh God, is Dad awake?!" I asked frantically, getting off my bed and dashing down the steps as fast as I could. I got to the bottom step, and saw my Dad talking to the boys by the front door. Oh shit.

"Bella," my Dad nodded toward me.

I gave a half-smile. "Hey… Um, what's going on?" I asked, the worry apparent in my voice.

"Your…boyfriend?" he asked, looking at Edward, who smiled and nodded, "and his friend are here to pick you up." I was surprised; my Dad was acting halfway normal. But I think it was because we'd run out of beer, so he wasn't drunk. Once I left, he'd probably go out and stock up.

"Oh! Where are we going?" I asked them.

Edward shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe out to eat somewhere?"

"Sure! Well, actually Alice is here…"

"Tell her to come. I want her to," Jasper smiled.

"Okay, I'll go get her." I dashed upstairs, hurrying so that my Dad didn't have a lot of time to say something stupid to them. I went into my bedroom, seeing Alice looking at me confused.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Edward and Jasper want to go out to eat. Want to come?"

"Actually, I don't think I can. I told my mom I'd help her clean the house. We're having a family reunion tomorrow, and my mom's freaking out; she hates when people see our house when it's messy," she rolled her eyes.

"Haha, good luck with that," I laughed as we went downstairs.

The four of us walked outside, and Jasper kissed Alice goodbye, and walked toward Edward's car. "Bye Alice," Edward and I said as she pulled out of the driveway, waving through the window.

Edward got walked to passenger side of his car and opened it for me, waving his hand in front of it, smiling, as if presenting a prize. "M' lady," he grinned.

"Thanks Edward, dear!" Jasper smiled and jumped in.

"Get out!" I yelled, and ripped him out of the seat. He fell onto the cement driveway, right on his butt. "Damn, Edward. She's feisty! Better be careful!" he joked.

I flipped him off and got in the front seat, waiting as Jasper got in the back and Edward sat behind the wheel. "So, where are we going?" I asked Edward.

He shrugged, eyes on the road. "McDonald's?"

"Ooh, yeah, Edward. Stuff her with fast-food. Very romantic," Jasper laughed from the backseat.

"Hell yeah it's romantic! French fries are great aphrodisiacs," Edward smiled, looking at me. I laughed and rolled my eyes. 

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

We got in the McDonald's parking lot and I cut the engine, removing my keys from the ignition. I slipped my arm around Bella's waist as we went inside and ordered. Jasper ordered first, and paid the pale short woman behind the register. I let Bella go in front of me.

"I just want a small order of fries and a water," she said.

"That'll be one twenty-seven," the cashier said.

Bella reached her hand out and gave the lady a five, but I pulled it back. "I got it. I'm paying for both of us," I said to the woman. She smiled and nodded.

"You don't have to, really, I can pay," Bella shook her head.

"No, it's fine," I insisted.

I ordered a ridiculous amount of food and paid the woman for my food and for Bella's. "Why don't you and Jasper go get a table? I'll bring over the tray when it's out," I suggested.

"Okay," she smiled. "Thanks." She kissed me on the cheek and walked off with Jasper. I waited by the register as they scrambled to finish all the food we ordered, especially since I'd probably have an entire tray of food on my own.

Bella and Jasper sat down at a table that was just beyond the barrier that separated the tables and the lines to order food. If I listened closely, I could hear their faint voices talking back and forth.

"You know, I think you're the first girl he's actually fallen for. I mean, really fallen for, and hard. Usually, he's just in it for sex, but I don't think that's the case with you. I just don't know what it is," I heard Jasper's voice say. Oh my God, they were talking about me!

"Really? Are you sure?" Bella's voice was quiet, muffled, since she was trying to whisper, but I could still hear it.

Desperate for some way to make them stop their discussion of me, I frantically grabbed two handfuls of about twenty ketchup packets from the basket by the registers and ran behind the barrier and threw them in their faces. "Who wants ketchup?!" I yelled, and ran back behind the barrier and grabbed the two trays of food that were now done. I think I distracted them enough from talking about me, because they both looked confused. I couldn't have been more relieved.

One tray in each hand, I walked back to the table and sat next to Bella. "Food's here!"

"Thank God, I'm starving," Jasper said, eyes not moving from the food.

Bella finished eating first, and turned to me and said, "Hey, I have to use the restroom. Can you move over?"

I nodded and stood up, allowing her access to go to the restroom. She kissed me on the cheek and said, "I'll be right back."

I sat back down and waited until Bella was out of earshot. "What the hell was that about?!" I scolded Jasper.

"What?"

"Talking about me to Bella!" I said sternly.

"What, you don't want your girlfriend to know you actually care about her?"

"Maybe I want to tell her myself! Since she is my girlfriend, and all," I told him sarcastically.

He thought about this. "Well, she seemed happy about it, at least."

I rolled my eyes, thankful that Bella had come back. "Hey guys!" she smiled as she sat down, this time on the outside.

"I'm done eating, I think," Jasper said, holding his stomach, obviously feeling nauseous from all the greasy food he just shoved in his mouth.

"Me too," I agreed.

We got into my car, and I dropped Jasper off at his house. I drove back to Bella's house, and stopped the car in her driveway. She had the door open halfway, about to get out, but I put my hand on her knee to stop her. "Wait," I said quietly, looking at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I just want you to know, I really care about you. I mean, we've only been dating for a few days, but… With the tutoring and stuff, I started to really like you… a lot. I just want you to know that," I said softly.

She looked at me for a second, and smiled sweetly. She closed the door and reached her body over to my seat. She kissed me softly on the lips and pulled back, looking into my eyes. "I really like you too."


	12. School

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 12 School  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

Edward picked me up for school on Monday, agreeing to take Megan to the elementary. Alice was getting a ride with Jane, so once we dropped off Megan, Edward and I would be in the car alone, which didn't bother me one bit. I told Edward to wait for me in the driveway instead of coming up to the house to get me, since I didn't want him to see my Dad again.

I heard the short, shrill sound of a horn being honked from the driveway. As I was walking out the door, holding Megan's hand, my Dad woke up from his early-morning drunken slumber on the couch. "Who the hell is honking a horn in front of my house at seven thirty in the fucking morning?! Bella, why didn't you tell me some asshole was going to honk his fucking horn so it didn't scare the shit out of me?!" He was practically screaming, stumbling closer to me. His feet were shaky and unsteady; obviously the alcohol was already getting to him.

"I just – I don't know – " I stuttered, but his swinging arm cut me off. His handed landed with a thwack! on my right cheek. It stung and a burning sensation began to linger. That was sure to leave a mark.

"Get the hell out of my house!" he yelled, although each word was slurred, pointing to the door.

I did as I was told, still holding Megan's small hand, tears rolling down my cheek, each drop passing over the sure-to-be red mark. Megan got into the backseat and I got into the passenger seat, not looking at Edward, not wanting him to see my cheek. Instead, I looked in the rearview mirror inconspicuously to examine my cheek. Yes, I realized, it was turning red.

Megan leaned through the middle section of the backseat into the front seats, directing her attention to Edward as he backed out of the driveway. "Hi Edward!" she smiled. He fascinated her; I didn't know if she had a crush on him or what, but every time he was around, she immediately vied for his attention.

"Hey Megan," he grinned back as we started down the road. She sat back in her seat, and I still hadn't said anything. Tears were silently pooling in my eyes, but I kept blinking them away. I was looking out the window at the horizon, although my thoughts were wandering elsewhere.

About ten minutes later, still nothing had been said. We reached the elementary and Megan got out and went inside with her many friends. We got back on the road and hit a red light. Numerous cars were passing by, so we had to wait for a few minutes.

Edward sighed and looked over at me, but I was still staring out the window. "Bella?" he asked softly, "What's wrong? You haven't said anything since you got in the car."

I shook my head slightly, not wanting to turn my head for him to see my cheek or my tears.

"Are you mad at me?"

I didn't look at him. "No," I sniffled, which evidently was apparent, because he said, "Are you crying?" I didn't acknowledge him. The light turned green, but instead of moving forward, he pulled into the nearest parking lot, which turned out to be a gas station. He turned off the car in a parking spot away from any other cars and looked at me. "Bella, please tell me what's wrong. I want to help, but I can't if you won't tell me what's going on," he said  
seriously.

I finally turned to him and looked in his eyes. I stayed quiet, but he saw the bruise. "Oh my god Bella! What happened?" he asked, concerned.

"It's just… I got into a fight again…" I lied. Well, it wasn't a lie exactly; it was more like just stretching the truth.

"With who?" His expression showed anger, like he was about to kill whoever did this to me.

I paused, and then whispered, "No one. It was no one." I shook my head.

"Well it must have been someone! Who?" he pressed.

"Can we just drop it?!" I snapped. It came out bitchier than I had intended.

He didn't say anything, and stuck the keys back into the ignition, driving back out of the parking lot, focusing on the road. The cars in front of him wouldn't yell at him.

Although we made a pit stop at the gas station, we were still on time, and surprisingly, we were about ten minutes early. I turned to him before he got out of the car. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'll tell you what happened sometime, but not now. Not yet," I said quietly.

I figured he had his own assumptions as to what happened, but he just nodded. "Okay."

We both got our bags out of the backseat of the car and walked toward the school doors.

This was our first day back at school since we officially became a couple, so only our close friends knew about our relationship.

With the problem in the car apparently mended, Edward grabbed my hand as we walked into the school. Eyes were drawn to us as soon as we entered the hallway littered with students at their lockers. On my right, the side with the bruise, I heard people whisper, "Oh god, what happened to her?" and "Damn, she doesn't seem like the kind of girl to get into a fight."

Then, one person snickered, "Can you imagine Bella Swan in a fist fight?! Haha!"

To my left, however, people were more interested in the fact that I, the unpopular girl, was holding hands with Edward Cullen, one of the most-wanted guys in our school. Multiple female voices said something along the lines of "Oh, I so wish I was in her shoes…"

I heard someone else say, "What was he thinking?!"

"That won't last long," someone else said.

And my personal favorite: "Shit, Edward Cullen usually doesn't have bad taste in girls. Wonder what got into him today!" Of course that one was a male voice. Asshole.

Edward didn't seem phased by the stares and whispers. He just went along with his business, acting like this was as normal as snow in winter.

He walked me to my locker, which was right next to his, and got his books out. I, on the other hand, just stood there in front of my locker. "Edward."

He looked up at me. "Hmm?"

My eyes brimmed with tears. I had been at school only long enough to walk to my locker and already people were ruining my day beyond repair. "I don't want to be here," I said just loud enough for him to hear me over the loud voices and lockers slamming.

"Want to skip?" he asked, already putting his books back on the shelf in his locker. I nodded, and we turned around, going right back out the door we just came in.

"Where are we going?" he asked as he started the car up.

"Not my house."

He nodded, and drove in the direction of his house. "So what made you want to leave?"

"We were in the school for maybe three whole minutes and all I could hear were whispers about me, and us. Didn't it bother you?"

He shrugged. "Eh, you just have to ignore it sometimes." He was so easygoing about everything. To him, anything could just be shrugged off his shoulders, forever out of his way and ready to be forgotten. Nothing stuck.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened?" he asked quietly, kind of bluntly.

"No."

"Will you ever tell me?" he begged.

"Yes. But I'm not ready yet."

He nodded as he drove into his driveway, cutting the engine. His parents were both at work, so we were alone. "Do you want some ice for the bruise?" he asked as I sat down on the couch.

"Yeah, thanks." I felt lucky that I had a boyfriend who cared about me and didn't pressure me into telling him things I wasn't ready to admit yet. If someone had told me two months ago that I would be dating Edward Cullen eight weeks from then, I would have laughed right in their face. Truth be told, Edward was actually my first real boyfriend. Now that I was with him and knew him better, I was glad that I could call him my first boyfriend. Contrary to what I used to think about him, he was actually very sweet and gentle, and he always knew what to do or say to make me laugh. I knew I could trust him and tell him anything, but at that moment I wasn't ready yet to reveal the big secret about my home life.

He walked back into the living room holding a bright blue icepack in his hands with a smile on his face. "Hope this makes it feel better," he said.

"Thanks, Edward," I smiled. I touched the ice-cold, rock-hard icepack to my cheek. It was so cold it almost burned, but it felt good against my stinging skin.

"I'm really tired," I admitted.

"Me too. I hardly got any sleep last night," he chuckled. He leaned back against the armrest on the sofa, his legs stretched out to the other end of the couch where I was. I got up and set the icepack on an end table, satisfied with my cheek. I laid on top of him, resting my head in the crook of his neck. He let his hand roam through my thick hair and he kissed my head. My eyes fluttered shut, as his eventually did, and I drifted to sleep.


	13. Mono From ME

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 13 School  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

Edward and I had been dating for three months, and everything was amazing. Then came "the cheerleader". She was the head cheerleader, and was known as The Cheerleader. As if the rest of the squad was just her posse of slutty blond clones, nameless and far less important.

Her real name was Tanya and she was the absolute epitome of perfection. Every guy wanted her and every girl wanted to be her. She was tall, blond, thin and busty, and famous  
among the football team for much more than just her cheers and backflips.

I was at my locker getting my books one day when Edward stayed home sick. The Cheerleader approached me – well, more like strutted her hourglass-shaped body down the hall, pumping her butt side to side, enjoying the attention the boys were giving her – and had a fake sad, apologetic look on her face.

"Oh Bella, honey, I have the most awful news," she shook her head, emphasizing the importance of what she had to say. "Poor Edward is home sick today. Want to know why?" she paused dramatically, and then stretched her mouth into a smirk. "He has mono. From me." She whipped her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open, shoving it into my face. There was a picture of her laying on a couch, him on top of her, their lips attached and four hands roaming everywhere. "How does that make you feel?" she sneered.

I drew in a deep breath, contemplating what to do to this bitch. I'd never stood up for myself before. I'd always had Jane or Alice around to stick up for me. But they weren't here. So I had to stick up for myself this time.

I punched her square in the face, watching as she covered her nose with her hands. Thick, red blood gushed through her fingers and stained her pretty white and red cheerleading uniform.

Everyone in the hallway started to crowd around us, the cheerleading squad on her side, as well as the boys she had wrapped around her fingers, and everyone else on mine. It felt strange; I'd never had so many people take my side on something, or even care about what I did. I usually just fell into the background, slipping through the cracks, forever destined to be unnoticed. It's amazing how, by socking the school slut, everyone suddenly cares about you. It's kind of sad, when you think about it.

Jane walked out of a classroom, just now seeing what was going on. She ran over and grabbed the cell phone off the floor, which Tanya dropped when I punched her, and looked at the screen. "That asshole." She sent the picture to her own cell phone from Tanya's, punching in her own cell phone number and throwing Tanya's cell phone back on the ground. She engulfed me into her, and said, "I'm so sorry. But I told you. I told you not to get in too deep," as I cried into her shoulder. It was just like her to point out that she was right all along in my time of need.

Alice walked out of the bathroom, a confused look on her face as she took in the crowd of people and The Cheerleader with the bloody nose. Then her eyes found me, and she came over and hugged me from the side. "What happened?"

Jane let go of me and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and showed Alice the picture she just sent to her cell phone from Tanya's. She gasped, and immediately turned around and chased after The Cheerleader, who was being helped into the bathroom to clean up by her team of rule-abiding blond clones. Alice pushed through the girls and got right into Tanya's face. "You fucking bitch."

"Don't you dare talk to me, Brandon," The Cheerleader glared at her.

"You know you deserved that. You deserve so much more than that. If you weren't already bleeding, I would have punched you, too."

Tanya scoffed, and Alice flipped her off, walking away as the band of mindless cheerleaders stared at her. They probably couldn't understand what she just said.

She walked back to me, but I was being carried away by my science teacher, Mr. Duvall, who walked into the hallway at the exact wrong moment. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the principle's office, telling me to sit in the empty seat outside the principle's door. Jasper, Emmett and Zack were, to no surprise at all, waiting in there as well. "I thought you knew better than that, Ms. Swan," Mr. Duvall scolded as he slammed the door shut and left.

**UH OH! DRAMA!**


	14. Detention

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 14 Detention  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

My head hung low as I sat in the waiting room outside the principle's office with Jasper, Emmett and Zack. I tried to conceal my tear and mascara streaked face from the boys. Zack didn't notice that I had obviously just been crying, and lifted his hand up. "Bella! Your first time in the principle's office! High-five!"

I looked up and glared at him, flipping him off. My eyes were red and puffy, and he just noticed. "Oh. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

I slunk deep into my seat, folding my arms across my chest and crossing one leg over the other, stalling for time. Jasper, who was sitting on my left, wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "What happened?"

I was trying not to cry in front of them, afraid of the awkward silence, but it wasn't working anymore. I couldn't hold it in. I started bawling and making weird, uncontrollable crying noises, my shoulders shaking. "Bella. What happened? Just say it," Jasper tried. "It's okay."

"The Cheerleader… I punched her because she… She… showed me a picture." I got out that much then a fresh set of tears began to pour. I tried my best to control them, and finished my explanation. "Edward…he cheated on me."

They all looked at each other, and I suddenly felt embarrassed. I must not have been that important to him if he couldn't even keep his mouth off other girls. I felt humiliated that this happened to me. Especially in front of his friends.

The principle, Mrs. Caldwell, opened her door and stuck her head outside. "Emmett, I'd like to speak to you first. Wait, Bella? Bella Swan? What are you doing here?" It was unusual for me to be in trouble enough to be sent to the principle's office, so she was a little shocked.

I looked up at her, trying to explain through the tears. "I got into a fight."

"Huh…" she said unbelievingly, refocusing her attention to Emmett. "Right. Mr. McCarty, come in please." He walked in and closed the door behind him.

I turned my head to the right, since both Zack and Jasper were on my left. I didn't want them to see me as I sniffled and cried. I wiped my nose on my hoodie sleeve and looked forward after my tears subsided. I wanted to say something, anything, but I didn't want to talk about what I was here for. So I talked about something else. "Why are you guys here?"

"We snuck out of class and went to the second lunch period and started a food fight. So. That's two counts against us," Zack laughed nervously, not sure how to say it since I just had a mini breakdown in front of them.

I nodded and looked away again. "Did you guys know?" I whispered suddenly, after a period of silence.

"Know…?" Jasper coaxed.

"About Edward. That he cheated," I said as matter-of-factly as I could, attempting to hide the fact that my bright green eyes were brimming with tears again.

"No, we had no clue. I really didn't think he would, honestly. He really cared about you," Jasper divulged.

"Apparently not that much," I mumbled.

Emmett walked out, Mrs. Caldwell right behind him. "Zack, I'd like to see you now." Emmett sat down in Zack's seat when he stood up, and Mrs. Caldwell looked at him and sighed. "Get to class, Emmett," she pointed at the door. He sighed and left.

Jasper and I were now alone in the waiting room outside the office, and we were both silent. Then Jasper broke the ice. "So, are you okay?" he asked softly, looking at me.

I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to reply, mostly because I didn't know what to say. I knew I could tell Jasper anything; he had become one of my best friends, and he was always understanding and trustworthy. He waited for my response, not pressuring me, and I finally found the words. "I don't know. I just don't know. I mean, I really liked him, you know? And then he pulls this shit." I looked down and shook my head. "I guess I shouldn't have gotten this deep with him. I guess I should have known not to go out with him in the first place after how he treated all the other girl's he's dated."

Jasper opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then closed it and sighed. "You know, you were different to him. He didn't look at you like the other girls."

I just looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he thought you were special. He told me a few times he was worried you'd break up with him. He said he didn't want you to realize what a 'piece of shit' boyfriend you had." He paused, suddenly aware of how bad that sounded. "His words, not mine," he added quickly. "He thought you deserved better than him, but he wasn't going to give you up since he got you."

"He didn't really say that, did he?" I asked sadly, and he just nodded. I sighed. "I don't deserve better than him," I shook my head. "I just can't believe he did that to me. Especially if he cared so much."

It fell silent, and Mrs. Caldwell came out with Zack, who gave me a tight hug and left. "Jasper, your turn," Mrs. Caldwell sighed. He hugged me and went into the principle's office, leaving me by myself.

I was a mixing pot full of emotions: anger, sadness, fear, numbness, all boiling and cultivating over a hot stove. I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. Every time I had something how I wanted, it was ripped away. My mother died, my Dad started drinking, and now Edward cheats. It was as if God was determined for me not to be happy.

Jasper came out a few minutes later and engulfed me into him. "It'll be okay, I promise. Call if you need me," he whispered before going to class.

"Bella," Mrs. Caldwell said indifferently. "Come." She curled her index finger backward, signifying she wanted me to go into her office. She held the door open and I walked in, and she went in behind me, shutting the door.

"So Ms. Swan," she said as she sat across from me, folding her hands on the desk separating us. "Enlighten me."

I looked down and sighed. "I don't know. Tanya Denali made me mad. And I punched her," I said simply.

"Ah. And what did she do that made you mad?" she said, cocking her head to the side.

"She showed me a picture…" I said, trying not to disclose any specific details.

"And what was the picture of?" Of course she'd ask.

I stayed silent a moment and played with the silver heart on the necklace Edward bought me. It was a symbol of us, of our relationship, and I felt like holding on to it made our relationship tangible. Something I could physically keep and protect. I wished things were that simple.

"It was of her making out with my boyfriend," I revealed, not meeting her eyes.

"Hm," she shook her head knowingly. "I understand things like that aren't hard to take in, trust me. But you can't just sock someone in the face, dear," she shook her head. Mrs. Caldwell was the kind of person who wouldn't let her anger get the best of her. She'd gather all necessary information and stay calm before doing anything.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to talk to Tanya. Please excuse me," she said as she turned on the microphone on her desk that was connected to the school-wide PA system.

"Tanya Denali, please come to the principle's office. Tanya Denali to the principle's office, please." She turned off the system and looked at me, her head cocked to the side. "Bella, I'm disappointed in you," was all she said as we waited for The Cheerleader.

Tanya finally came in, hand clutching her nose, and sat down in the blue seat beside me. Her nose wasn't even bleeding anymore, but she had to act like she was hurt just because she wanted the principle to feel bad for her. She was a huge attention whore. "Ms. Denali, would you please explain what just happened with Bella?"

"Oh, of course, Mrs. Caldwell," she said, playing the "oh, woe is me" victim card. "Well, I was just talking to Bella, and then, out of nowhere, she punches me! It was just a mess. My uniform got stained and I had to go clean up in the bathroom… It was just awful," she shook her head dramatically.

"Now Tanya, is that everything? Is there anything else I should know? Did you do anything to her?" Mrs. Caldwell asked, eyebrows raised.

"No. That's the whole story," she lied.

"Well Bella claims that you egged her on with some sort of picture…?"

"Absolutely not," she defended.

"That's not true!" I cut in.

"Bella, don't lie," Tanya glared at me.

I ignored her. "She showed me a picture of her and my boyfriend! It's on her cell phone!" I informed the principle.

"Tanya, may I see your cell phone?" Mrs. Caldwell asked.

"Of course." She rummaged through her purse and produced her cell phone. "Here it is."

"Now, Bella, your boyfriend is…?" she looked at me past her glasses.

"Edward Cullen," I nodded.

"Mr. Cullen? Really…" she said distantly, as if in thought. She, like most people in our school, found it very hard to believe that I, of all people, was dating Edward Cullen, Mr. Popular, the guy who dated the slutty, hot girls. Especially since she had to give Edward detentions multiple times freshmen and sophomore year for saying derogatory remarks to me, and for throwing things at me. Strange couple.

We waited as the principle looked at all of Tanya's stored photos. "Bella, I hate to tell you, but there's no picture in here of her and Edward. In fact, I don't see any pictures of Edward."

I gasped. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes."

I suddenly remembered Jane sending the picture to her cell phone. "Wait! Jane Williams has the picture! She sent it to her cell phone from Tanya's after she saw it. Tanya must have deleted hers after Jane sent it to her cell phone."

Tanya gasped and glared at me.

"Are you sure, Bella? I don't want to go deeper into this than I have to, and if you're lying, you'll be in even more trouble," Mrs. Caldwell scolded.

"I'm positive. She has the picture," I declared.

The principle sighed and turned the intercom mic back on. "Jane Williams to the principle's office. Thank you," she said, shutting the system back off. We waited in silence for Jane to arrive, both Tanya and I with our arms folded across our chests.

Jane walked in and stood by my seat since there were no more empty seats. "Jane, Bella tells me that there was a picture of this young lady" she pointed at Tanya, "with Edward Cullen, who is apparently Bella's boyfriend. She says you sent it from Tanya's cell phone to your own. If there is a picture, we'll know that Tanya was lying and purposely tried to provoke Bella. If there isn't, then we know Bella is lying. May I please see your phone?"

"Definitely," Jane said confidently, knowing she was taking part in getting The Cheerleader in trouble. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Mrs. Caldwell who searched it.

"Ah. Is this the picture?" the principle asked, showing the screen to me, then to Jane.

"Yes, ma'am," we both said.

"Tanya, look at this photo," the principle instructed.

"Okay. What about it?" Tanya asked in a snotty voice, now upset that she'd been caught.

"This seems to be the picture you said didn't exist. And if I look at the name and number the photo was sent from, it says it was sent from you, Tanya Denali, and this number is listed," she said, pointing at the screen to Tanya's cell phone number. "Is this your cell phone number?"

Tanya sighed angrily. "Yes."

"Tanya, go back to class. We'll discuss your punishment for lying later." Tanya got up and pushed past Jane out the door. Jane sat in Tanya's old seat and waited for the principle to speak.

"Bella, I'm sending you home. I'm not going to punish you. I'm trying to be very lenient on the situation. I wouldn't be upset if you didn't come to school tomorrow, either." It was a well-known fact that even the faculty didn't like Tanya Barnes, so I don't think Mrs. Caldwell cared much that I punched her. "And Jane, you're free to go. Thank you for your time."

"Any time, Mrs. Caldwell," Jane replied cheerfully, walking with me to my locker.

She waited for me to get books I'd need for homework and shoved them violently into my tote bag. "I'm so pissed. At everyone," I said, shoving my history book for emphasis. "At Tanya," I threw another book into my bag. "At Edward," I shoved in the last book at his name.

"I know, Bella. It'll all work out though, I promise," she assured me.

"I hope so. I'm going home. Bye, Jane," I said, hugging her.

"See you Bella. Let me know how things turn out," she said, walking to her next class.

I got into my car, and instead of going home, I went straight to Edward's.


	15. Feuds

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 15 Feuds  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

I pulled into Edward's driveway and parked behind his car. His parents weren't home; they were probably still at work since it was only 1:30. I didn't bother knocking when I got up to the door: I just barged right in. Edward was lying on his couch with a red blanket over him and his dog, Sebastian sitting on his stomach, watching television.

He looked over, confused as to why I was at his house when I should have been at school. "Hey Bella… Wait? What's going on? Were you crying?" I still had stains on my face from my mascara and my eyes were red, so it was pretty evident that yes, I had been crying.

"Yes, you fucking asshole, I was crying!" I screamed.

He perked up in his seat. "Why? What happened? Are you mad at me?"

"Hell yeah I'm mad! That skank Tanya showed me the picture of you two making out on her couch! And she said you're staying home because you have mono! From her! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What?! I never cheated on you!"

"Then explain this!" I whipped my cell phone out of my pocket and went to the pictures section. Jane had sent me the picture so I could show it to Edward since she had to stay at school. I threw it across the room at him since he was on the couch and I was still right inside the door.

It landed in his lap and he studied it for a second, then looked up at me. "Tanya showed you this?" he said softly.

I nodded and slid down the wall onto the floor, tears now freely falling down my cheeks again.

"Bella, this is from last year. I dated her for about a week in tenth grade. Look at the background," he instructed, getting up from the couch and sitting next to me on the floor. He laid the phone in my hands and pointed his index finger at the staircase behind the couch in the background. "See the stairs? That's in a different house. Tanya's family moved out of that house a few months after we broke up. That couldn't have been recent. She lied to you," he said quietly.

I dropped the phone on the ground and sniffled, leaning my head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have thought you'd cheat. I should've trusted you."

He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my head. "It's okay. I can understand. I did some pretty shitty things in my past, so I can understand if it was hard to trust me. But I just want you to know, you're different. I wouldn't cheat on you," he shook his head. "I can't."

It was silent for a moment, then I thought of something. I removed my head from his shoulder and looked at him. "Why are you sick today, anyway?"

"I don't have mono, trust me," he laughed. "I've just been throwing up all day."

"Oh. I'm sorry I believed Tanya when she said she gave you mono."

"It's fine, because I do have to admit to something." I looked at him, worried. "I can't stop barfing. I think I'm pregnant," he said seriously.

I laughed. "You dumbass," I slapped his chest.

"Hey, but at least you finally smiled!"

I chuckled, and we stayed on the floor in silence for a long time. I looked at the clock. 2:55. "I'm sorry, but I have to go pick up Megan."

"Okay, see you later," he said, kissing me. I stood up and got into my car, driving to the elementary. Megan got in, and I headed home.

When we got the to the house, I opened the door, and Dad was standing in the living room, looking pissed. "Isabella Marie Swan!" he slurred loudly, pointing at me.

"W-what?" I stuttered. I just walked in, what could he possibly be mad at me for already?

"The school called!" he screamed, grabbing a glass lamp off the end table and throwing at across the room, just missing my head. "They say you got into a fight!" Oh god! I thought, They didn't punish me; instead, they called my Dad!

"I know I taught you better than that!" Um. No, Dad. You didn't.

He stormed his fat beer-belly body over to me and punched my jaw, clanking my teeth together and making me bite my tongue. My teeth rattled, and my tongue started bleeding profusely. My jawbone was sore and I knew it would create yet another mark.

"You little dumbass!" he shouted, even as tears spilled from my eyes. He shook his head at me and went into the kitchen. I could hear dishes being thrown in anger, and I took my chance. I grasped Megan's hand and ran upstairs, grabbing two bags from my closet. In one bag, I hastily threw enough clothes for a night for me and my hairbrush, toothbrush, and other necessities. I did the same thing with the other bag, only this one was for Megan. I slung mine over my shoulder, handing the other one to Megan.

"You have to be quiet, Megan. Don't say anything. We're sneaking out," I whispered. She nodded her head, and I grabbed my car keys off my dresser.

I tiptoed down the stairs, still holding Megan's hand. Dad was still in the kitchen, and, from what I could hear, was still throwing dishes. We went through the back door of the house, since it didn't require passing the kitchen entrance where Dad could see us. I shut the door quietly, and we went around to the front of the house, getting into my car and starting the engine. Dad apparently heard the car pull out of the driveway, because the door flew open, and he was screaming/slurring some incomprehensible bullshit at me. He didn't move any further than the porch, because I was already on the road, fleeing from him.

I could barely see the road clearly from my watering eyes. I could hear Megan sniffling in the passenger seat. She usually was stronger than this, and I hated seeing her crying.

"Where are we going?" she asked quietly.

I hadn't even thought of that until she'd asked, but there was only one place I wanted to go. "We're going to Edward's." 

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

"I'm kicking your ass!" Jasper bragged as we played one of my video games. I was hitting buttons on the controller furiously, but I was still too far behind to win. My parents were gone for the next few days, visiting my grandparents in Florida.

I heard the doorbell ring, but I ignored it. "Jasper, go get the door!" I demanded, not ungluing my eyes from the screen. He dropped his controller, not pausing the game, and went to open the door. I pulled in a few extra points, just enough to beat Jasper. "Haha Jasper! You lose!" I laughed, pointing at him.

"Not fair!" he complained. He was right in front of the door, and still hadn't answered it. This game was way too important to him.

"It's not my fault you were dumb enough to not pause the game!" I smiled. He rolled his eyes and the doorbell rang again. He finally opened it, and Bella was there with Megan.

They both had tears running down their faces, and Jasper and I immediately forgot about the game. Bella's jaw was bruised. My eyes widened at the sight. Bella's voice was muffled from the tears, but she somehow got a few words out. "Can we stay here tonight?"


	16. Sleep

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 16 Sleep  
_**

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

"Can we stay here tonight?" Bella asked, sobbing and holding Megan's hand in the doorway. I immediately dropped my video game controller on the floor, and stood up, walking over to her, pushing Jasper out of the way.

"Yeah, of course. What happened?" I was panicking and my breathing was unsteady. I hated seeing her this way, and especially with her six year-old sister crying, too. She didn't answer, and instead wrapped her arms around my torso and cried into my shoulder. I rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. Megan grabbed Bella's leg and cried. Jasper stood beside all of us, not sure what to do.

Bella sniffled once more, trying to fight back more tears. "Bella, you have to tell me what happened. I hate seeing you this way. I want to help," I pleaded.

She finally lifted her head and looked into my eyes, hands now on my shoulders. "Our dad…" she trailed off. "We can't go home," she shook her head.

"What exactly happened?" I asked softly, still rubbing her back.

"Dad said the school called about me punching Tanya," she paused and hiccupped a few times, since she was still crying, "And he was so drunk…" She sniffled. "He threw a lamp at me – it missed, but still… And then he punched me in the jaw," she whispered.

I wanted, with everything I had, to help her and Megan. I wanted nothing more than to fix everything, and give them everything they deserved, no matter how cheesy that sounds. I knew that was more than I could ever give her, and the only way I knew how to help for now was to comfort her and give her a place to stay. "Bella…" I sighed sadly, running my hand over the purple and yellow mark on the side of her face.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, and she finally pulled away. "Thanks," she whispered exhaustedly.

"Of course. I would do anything for you," I said honestly, kissing her lips. Megan had finally released Bella's leg, and I leaned down and picked her up. "And for you, Megan," I kissed her cheek. Her eyelids were drooping, and she was about to fall asleep. She was exhausted from the day she had and from crying so much. "Should I put her in bed?" I asked Bella, who nodded.

I carried her upstairs, and she fell asleep on the way up within seconds. I kicked open the door to the spare bedroom and laid her on the bed, covering her with the blanket and turning the light off. I quietly shuffled out and closed the door behind me.

I went downstairs and smiled lightly at Bella who was sitting on the couch, leaning on Jasper's shoulder. He had his arm around her shoulder, and I sat on Bella's other side, doing the same. It was quiet, and suddenly Jasper's cell phone rang. After a few minutes, he hung up, saying his mom called and wanted him to come home. Bella and I said goodbye, and he hugged Bella, kissing her cheek.

We were back on the couch, me hugging Bella close as tears silently trickled from her eyes and rolled onto my shirt. I suddenly became aware of how fast my heart was beating, pumping blood through my veins, trying to catch up to the speed of my thoughts as realization set in. I'm sure she noticed, because her head was resting on my chest and she looked up at me. "Bella," I started, "All those times… You were never in any fights, were you?"

She shook her head and nuzzled it into my neck. My arms were around her back, and I held her closer.

"I'm so sorry I didn't realize it before-" I began, but she cut me off.

"Don't apologize, really. It's fine."

"No, it's not fine. I should have known, I should have been able to figure it out. I mean, you're my girlfriend! And I care about you more than you could ever know. And I feel like shit because I know that this is my fault. I should have told you that I used to go out with Tanya because then you would have known that that picture of us was old, then you would have never punched Rachel, and your dad would have never hurt you…" I rambled.

This time, she cut me off, but instead with her lips. She pulled back, and her green water-filled eyes pierced into mine. "This isn't your fault. It was bound to get this bad sometime. It was only a matter of time…" she trailed off. I let it go, still feeling overwhelmingly guilty, but knowing she wouldn't back down.

I changed the subject. "So, was it hard? I mean, trying to have a normal life but basically raising your sister, along with your Dad and… you know…" I asked quietly.

"You have no idea," she shook her head. She had finally stopped crying. "I'm so sick of everything. My Dad aside, taking care of a six year-old isn't easy. And I hate cooking," she added, chuckling slightly to try to lighten the mood.

"Well, how about I cook for you for once?" I asked.

"I'd like that," she smiled.

-------

I pulled the pizza out of the oven, the only thing I could find in the kitchen that I knew I wouldn't screw up. "Pizza's done!" I exclaimed happily from the kitchen, trying to get her mind off of other things. I walked out, two plates in hand, and set one in her lap on the couch and sat next to her.

"Thanks," she smiled lightly, leaning her back into my chest as we both ate and absentmindedly watched television. It was obvious that neither of us were actually paying any attention to the show; we were actually contemplating the day's events, which included Bella showing up at my house twice, each time in tears.

I finished my slice of pizza and reached my arm out to set my empty plate on the table beside the couch. Bella was still nibbling on her food; she had only eaten a few bites in the time it took me to completely eat mine. I wrapped my arms around her, resting them on her stomach.

"Are you done already?" she asked quietly.

"Yep," I confirmed.

"Me too. I don't really want any more food. I'm just not in the mood to eat much," she said softly. She set her plate next to mine on the table and leaned back into me, sighing. I held her tighter and kissed her cheek, then rested my chin on her shoulder. "Everything will be okay, I promise," I whispered. "I won't let anything happen again."

"Thanks, Edward. For everything," she said quietly. I kissed her cheek again. We stayed in that position for what felt like forever, and I didn't want it to end.

"Hey Bella, I'm going to take our plates to the kitchen… Can I get up a second?" I asked. She nodded her head and got up, allowing my access off the couch.

When I walked back out into the living room, Bella was sprawled across the sofa, asleep already. She was on her side, facing the back of the couch, her side gently moving up and down in time to her breathing. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful, I just couldn't believe that anyone, especially her own father, could treat her the way he did. I couldn't believe I used to treat her the way I did.

I quietly tiptoed over to the couch and lifted her up bridal-style. I was careful not to wake her, which wasn't hard, considering she was in such a deep sleep, she could've probably slept through an explosion. Her legs dangled off my arms as I carried her upstairs, skipping some of the creaky steps.

Megan was in the only spare bedroom, so I went into my bedroom and gently laid her on my bed. I pulled a blanket over her, and, surprisingly, she hadn't woken up. Even with mascara and tear streaks on her cheeks, and a bruise on her jaw, she still looked gorgeous. I leaned down and lightly kissed her temple.

"I love you," I whispered as quietly as I could. I didn't have the nerves, or the guts, for that matter, to tell her when she was actually able to hear it, but I needed to tell her. For now, this was the only way I could bring myself to do it: when she couldn't hear it.


	17. They Never Check Those Things

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 17 They Never Check Those Things  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

I felt a pair of arms drop me on a bed, but I didn't know who it was or how I got into the bedroom. I was so tired that I didn't feel like letting whoever took me up here know that I was awake, so I just pretended that I was still asleep. A set of lips gently kissed my temple, and I began to drift back into sleep, until I heard whoever this was whisper something. "I love you."

Wait...I didn't actually hear that did I?

My eyes opened immediately and his widened; I guess he actually believed that I had been asleep. "What did you just say?" I whispered.

He looked startled and taken aback. "Um… Um… I said… I said I love you…" His last few words were almost inaudible, but I knew what he said.

"You… You love me?" I asked nervously.

He nodded. "Are you mad at me?" he asked quietly, looking up at me through his bangs.

"No! No, of course I'm not mad, Edward…" I trailed off. I just didn't know how to respond to his sudden confession. I knew I cared for him, and I knew I had strong feelings for him, but I didn't know if it was love. I knew I was falling in love, but I wasn't actually in love. Not yet, anyway. "I'm just… Wow… Love?" I sounded like an idiot, babbling, but I didn't know what to say, and saying nothing at all was not an option.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I just didn't know how to tell you. I thought you were sleeping."

"I was. At least, until you laid me down. Then I woke up."

"Oh. I'm sorry for waking you. And I'm sorry you heard that," he said sadly, looking down.

I got up and hugged him. "Edward, it's okay! Don't apologize. I'm not mad, not at all. I just… I don't think I can say it back," I looked in his eyes. "Not yet. I'm falling in love, I really am, but I'm not in love just yet. And it wouldn't be fair to you for me to say it and not mean it one hundred percent."

He nodded. "It's okay. I understand. You can say it when you're ready," he smiled. "I just needed you to know that's how I felt."

I smiled and kissed his lips, resting my hands on his neck as both his hands held my waist. He pulled his lips back and rested his forehead on mine, smiling wide. I smiled back, so happy to be in this moment.

"You mean the world to me, Bella," he said sincerely. "I'm so lucky."

"I'm the lucky one," I said, pecking his lips. "And I'm also the tired one," I chuckled, releasing him. I got back in the bed, moving to the opposite side so there was room for him.

Instead, he got out an extra blanket and pillow from his closet and dropped them on the floor. "You can sleep up here, Edward. I don't mind," I smiled.

He grinned and put the pillow and blanket back into his closet, sliding into the bed next to me. "Are you sure this is okay? I don't want to bother you," he said.

"You won't bother me! I don't want to be alone," I said honestly.

He smiled big and kissed my forehead, holding me close as I fell asleep in his arms, the only place I wanted to be.

-------

I woke up the next morning and looked at the clock. 9:45. I was alone, assuming Edward had gone to school and hopefully took Megan, too. I figured since the principle said she wouldn't care if I skipped today, I'd take full advantage of the opportunity. I got into the bag I'd brought to Edward's and changed my clothes and brushed my hair and teeth for the day, not bothering with makeup since I was pretty sure I was home alone. Edward's parents wouldn't be back until Sunday, and it was currently Tuesday.

I shuffled into the spare bedroom Megan had slept in, surprised to still see her book bag by the bed. Did she stay home?

I descended the wooden steps that led downstairs to the living room. I could hear talking coming from the kitchen and stepped in to see what was going on.

"I don't really know what's going to happen," I heard Edward say. He stayed home!

Megan's little kid voice was next to be heard. "Well, I like it here. You have good cereal!" I heard what I assumed to be the clinking of a spoon to her bowl of cereal, and Edward laughed.

Just then, I walked in, making my presence known. "Bella! You're awake!" he smiled, hugging me.

"Yeah, and you're not at school. Why?" I asked accusingly.

"Jeez! You sound like my mother. I didn't set my alarm clock to get up on time, and there isn't an alarm in the spare bedroom, so we both just slept in. She came in my bedroom at like, nine this morning complaining about being hungry. So I let her eat, and I just figured, you know, since you weren't going to school, and since you're in my house, why should I go? And of course, why should your sister go?"

"Because she's six! And she can't just skip school!"

"I know. How about she finishes the cereal and I'll take her to school? I'll just drop her off outside and give her a note to take to the office, saying she was at the dentist or something. They never check those things," He said, defeated.

"Sounds good," I smiled and kissed his lips.

"Ew!" Megan cringed, and Edward and I laughed. I removed my lips from his, and Megan put her empty bowl in the sink. Edward made up an excuse on a note, forging the name of a dentist with a flourish of his pen at the bottom of the page. "Come on, kid. You've got to go to school."

"Aww! Bella! He was going to let me stay home all day!" she complained.

"Sorry! I have to be your mother, not your sister, remember?" She pouted and went upstairs for her book bag. I turned to Edward and smiled. "Thanks, Edward. I don't know many guys who would do half the stuff you've done for me. And for my sister."

"Well I'm not like most guys," he smirked, resting his hands on my waist, kissing me deeply. I ruffled his hair, and we both smiled into the kiss. I heard footsteps, but ignored them and continued enjoying the moment.

I heard a throat clear, and Megan's voice said, "Excuse me!" We separated our lips, but not our hands, and turned our heads to Megan, who was scowling with her hands on her hips. She was usually really sweet, but she could be a brat when she wanted to be. "If you two are going to keep doing that, then I just won't go to school at all!"

"Sorry, Meg," Edward chuckled, but Megan was still not amused.

"I can take her, Edward," I offered.

"How about you just come along? I wanna take you somewhere after, anyway," he smiled.

"Alright. I'd like that," I smiled back.


	18. Birthday

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 18 Birthday  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

Megan grabbed her book bag and got out of the back seat of Edward's car and went in the school building, "dental" excuse in hand. "So where are we going?" I asked, turning my head to him.

"Well I'm starving. So we're going out to eat," he smiled.

He drove into the parking lot of a little diner downtown and got out, opening my door for me.

The waitress took our orders after we sat down and walked away. Edward looked at me across from the table and smiled. "So Friday's your birthday, correct?" he smirked.

"Yep!" I said happily, nodding my head. "Eighteen, baby."

"Well I got you a gift already, and I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. And I'm throwing you a party, so be prepared," he smiled.

"Oh god, that scares me!" I joked. He laughed, and I asked, "What time should I be there?"

"Be there? You mean you're going home?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Well, yeah…" I said in a 'duh' tone. "I mean, Meg and I can't just stay at your house for the next two days."

"Of course you can! It's Tuesday and my parents are gone until Sunday! Just stay until then. I don't care."

I smiled. I wanted to stay there, obviously. Why would I want to go home to my drunken father? The alcohol probably already faded away any memories of the fight we'd had before I left yesterday, and he wouldn't care if we were gone, I'm sure. But I still didn't want to be there. He certainly didn't care about us when we were home, so why would he care if we were gone? Would he even notice? Probably not.

"Are you positive Meg and I can stay?"

"Duh."

"What about the party? Knowing you, there'll be plenty of boozing, so I don't think Megan should be there. Even though she has seen her share of drunk people…" I trailed off at the end, referring to my Dad and his friends who sometimes randomly showed up at the house, and drank with my Dad. They all acted like complete dumbasses and I hated them.

"Hmm…" he looked to be in thought.

"She's got a zillion friends, I'll just tell her to go to one of their houses. I'm sure she'd like that anyway," I laughed. "She always complains that I never let her hang out with her friends enough."

The waitress came back, handing us our plates of food. We thanked her, and she walked away. We ate in mostly silence, until Edward looked up from his food at me. "So… Can I ask you something?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, anything," I smiled.

He opened his mouth, then quickly closed it and sighed. He cocked his head to the side and looked to be in deep thought, then finally said something. "What happened yesterday? Like, with your dad. I mean, I know you said he hit you in the jaw, but… I don't know what I'm asking. Nevermind," he shook his head.

"No, it's okay. I feel like I can talk about it. If you really want to know…"

"Yeah, I was kind of wondering…."

I drew in a deep breath before I started the longwinded story of the previous day's events. "Well, after I left your house, after you cleared up what happened with you and Tanya, I went to the elementary and picked up Megan. As soon as I open the door to my house, my Dad's just screaming at me, and I didn't even know why. He said the school called and told him about what I did to the Cheerleader. And he wouldn't listen to me. He just kept screaming." I sighed, trying to compose myself to finish the story. "Then he threw a lamp at me. It just barely missed my head, and shattered all over. He walked over and punched me in the jaw and the force threw my teeth together, biting my tongue and it started bleeding like crazy and he just ignored me and went into the kitchen, and I could hear dishes breaking. So Megan and I snuck up the stairs and I packed bags for us, and we went downstairs and out the back door, then we came to your house." I said the last few sentences in nearly one breath, trying to get them all out without breaking.

His jaw was dropped slightly, as if he couldn't believe what he'd heard. Sure, I'd told him the story before, but he was just now hearing the details. "That's just… I don't even know what to say…" he shook his head.

"It's fine. It's been going on for years. I'm not surprised this happened. All of his anger was just building up, year after year, and I think he's finally reaching his rock bottom," I admitted.

He didn't respond, and when we finished eating, he paid the bill, and we left the restaurant, hand in hand. He kissed my cheek before entering the car, and we went home. Well, to his home.

The next few hours at Edward's house went by too fast. We were talking about our lives, learning more about each other and enjoying ourselves. Before I knew it, it was 2:50, and we had to get Megan.

We were only a few blocks away from the elementary, and I turned my head to Edward. "Thanks for doing this, Edward. I mean, letting us stay over and stuff. It really means a lot. I don't know many guys who would do that for their girlfriends," I chuckled.

"Well I'm not most guys," he smirked.

The car came to a stop in front of the building, and Megan walked up and threw her bag in the back, sitting down and closing the door.

"Hey Meg!" I greeted her from the front seat.

"Bellay! And Edward-y!" she smiled.

Edward looked up and smiled at her in the rearview mirror. "I've got some news," I said happily to her.

"What? What is it?!" she asked excitedly.

"You and I are going to stay at Edward's until Sunday. And on Friday, you get to stay at a friend's house. Is that okay?"

She gasped. "Yes it's okay! Yay! I'm so happy!" I smiled at how happy staying at a friend's house made her. Things are much more simple when you're six. "And you know what else is happening on Friday?"

"What?" I asked her.

"It's your birthday, silly!" she laughed. "I made you a card in art class today. I'm so excited, I can't wait until your real birthday to give it to you." She rummaged through her backpack and handed a folded piece of blue construction paper to me. On the front, it said "To: Bella, From: Megan" in red magic marker. The inside had a message that said, "Happy Birthday! I hope you have the best birthday ever!" and each letter was in a different color, surrounded by random drawings of smiley faces and hearts.

"Megan! I love it! Thanks so much!" I exclaimed. She laughed happily, extremely proud of her work. We pulled into Edward's driveway and we all got out and went inside.

"You know Edward, I have to go to school tomorrow. And so do you," I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I know… I just figured, hey, the principle said you could stay home and if you're going to be at my house, I'll stay home too!" he said, kissing me.

"I know. And thanks. I didn't want to be home alone anyway. But we really have to go tomorrow." He nodded.

-------

9:00 came, and I had to send Megan to bed. "Meg, bedtime," I said indifferently, eyes still transfixed to the TV screen.

She grunted in anger and stormed up the steps. I got up from the recliner I was sitting on and went to the sofa, where Edward was. I laid down, my head in his lap. "I really don't want to go to school tomorrow," I sighed, looking up at him.

"Me either. But just think of it this way: we get through school tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday, then Friday night we're having a partaaay!"

I couldn't help but smile. "Thanks again, Edward."

We went to bed around eleven thirty, cuddling, as I again fell asleep in his embrace, feeling safer than I had in years.


	19. Party

**I only own Megan. :(

* * *

**

**_Ch. 19 Party  
_**

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

"Don't worry about it," Edward pressed. "People will forget by tomorrow, and everyone knows The Cheerleader's a bitch anyway."

Rumors were still swirling around the school about what happened at school Monday, when I punched Tanya. Although many people had been there to witness what really occurred, rumors were still spreading.

I sighed as Edward and I walked down the hall, him rubbing my back soothingly. "I know."

-------

A few hours later, I somehow managed to get through the day, and by the time Thursday rolled around, everyone had mostly forgotten about my scuffle with Tanya. Apparently, some girl named Clarissa, the "nerdy, bookworm" type, had gotten drunk at a party and had a one-night stand with the football team's quarterback. Of course they were both piss-drunk, and the quarterback, Mike, kept denying it since he was so embarrassed. But there's no denying the fact that they stumbled drunkenly up the stairs at the party and didn't come down for three hours. Especially when they looked like hell, sweaty and with messy hair when they finally did return downstairs. I, of course, was thankful, because that meant that the rumors about me were dying down.

But that didn't take away from the fact that I still had to get through the school day on Friday, which had finally come. I walked in the double doors of the school on Edward's back, and people started coming up to me out of nowhere.

I heard things like, "Hey Edward tells me there's a party for you tonight. I'll be there!" and "I'm buying you two presents: one for your birthday, and another for being the only person with enough guts to kick that skank Tanya's ass!" At least people didn't hate me for doing what I did. I certainly couldn't complain if the students were being this nice to me.

That day at lunch, I sat down with the usual group: Edward, Alice, Jane, Jasper, Emmett and Zack.

"Happy birthday, Bellay!" Jasper smiled like a goof.

I grinned back. "Thanks, Jaspery!"

He started singing "Happy Birthday" to me, and my cheeks blushed. I hated when people sang that to me.

"Stop singing!" I laughed.

"Nope!" he said happily. "SING ALONG TIME!" he demanded, looking at the rest of our friends.

They all laughed, and sang with him. "Happy birthday to you…" they sang loudly. By the second line of the song, the rest of the cafeteria caught on, joining in. The sixty kids in my lunch period were all singing to me, and I was so embarrassed I tried to hide my face in my hands, but as it turns out, that doesn't work so well.

The song ended, and I glared at Jasper. "You are so going to pay."

"I already did! Your present was pretty expensive. You betta appreciate!" he snapped jokingly, jerking his head back and forth like a diva.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "So what time do we need to be there tonight, Edward?" Jane questioned.

"Around eight. Until whenever," he chuckled.

"Until the last drunken person sobers up and gets the hell out?" Alice joked.

"Yep. That's when!" he nodded.

I had to admit, that was the first school day in a long time that I had really enjoyed. Not a single bad thing had happened, and I didn't anticipate anything going wrong that night, either.

-------

It was currently 6:30, and we had just gotten back from dropping Megan off at her friend Renesmee's house for the night. The next hour was spent with Edward and I getting ready for the party, making sure nothing valuable or easily breakable was sitting out, and making sure that lots of booze was easily accessible.

Around 7:45, Alice and Jane showed up together. "It's the birthday girl!" Alice yelled, running over to me in the kitchen and hugging me.

"Time to PAR-TAY!" Jane smiled, hugging me as well. "Guess what I got you?" she smirked.

"What?" I asked curiously, figuring by her expression that it probably wasn't completely appropriate. Especially considering that, for my sixteenth birthday, she'd gotten me a thong as a gag gift.

She pulled a bottle of alcohol from behind her back. "Booze, bitch!" She popped the cap and sipped it herself. "But it's kind of for me…" she laughed.

"Aw, you always give the most thoughtful gifts, Jane!" I chuckled.

"Don't worry, I actually got a present for you not for myself," Alice said.

She handed me a present wrapped in black and green wrapping paper. It was thin, small, and square. "Hmm… I bet it's not a CD!" I laughed sarcastically. I tore off the paper, and, as I expected, she'd gotten me a CD. "Thanks, Alice!" I hugged her again. "And thank you, too, Jane. It's definitely nice to know that my best friend cares for me enough to get piss drunk on my birthday!" I smiled.

"Any time!" she said happily.

Alice turned to Edward, and whispered something in his ear, but I couldn't hear it. All I could hear was Edward's response to her, which was "Not yet."

Not yet? What was that supposed to mean? And why were they keeping secrets from me?

The door swung open, and Emmett, Zack and Jasper revealed themselves. "Bella!" Jasper yelled, sprinting over and engulfing me into him. He hugged me so tight that he picked me up off the floor and I felt like I was suffocating.

"Put me down! You're choking me!" I yelled.

He complied, and my feet were back on solid ground. "Sorry," he apologized. "I just get really excited sometimes…" he chuckled. "Which reminds me, I have gift for you! And it's way better than anything these dumbasses got you."

"I don't know, I'd say a bottle of booze for Jane from Jane is pretty hard to beat," I joked, causing Jane to blush and laugh.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out tickets to something, but I couldn't tell what it was. "Seven tickets to this year's Warped Tour. That means all of us can go together!"

"Holy shit, Jasper! Where'd you get the money for seven tickets to Warped?!" I asked, my mouth agape.

"Let's just say, I've got a lot of chores to do around the house to make it up to my Mom," he smiled. "But it's worth it."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" I smiled, hugging him.

Emmett was next. "Well, I'm pretty sure it's not as good as concert tickets, but hopefully you'll like it anyway." He handed me an unwrapped CD, the second of the night. "Yay! I love CDs. Thanks so much, Emmett!" I hugged him. People had only been at the house for about fifteen minutes, and I'd already gotten lots of hugs.

"Happy birthday, Bella," Zack smiled, handing me yet another CD.

"Damn, you guys aren't very original, are you?" I laughed. "Just kidding. Thanks, I love it." I hugged Zack as well.

Jasper looked at Edward with an expecting face. "And Edward? What about you? Have you given her your present yet?" he smirked.

"Dammit, Jasper! Shut up!" he said defensively. "Just cool it. I'll get to it eventually," he whispered through gritted teeth, although I don't think I was supposed to hear it.

About a half an hour later, there were approximately fifty people drinking, partying, and congratulating me. And, in Jasper and Alice's case, heavily making out on the couch. I could already see, looking in just one direction, that about six intoxicated guys were trying to sweet talk girls who were obviously not interested. Unfortunately, with Edward in the kitchen and me in the living room, I found myself in the same situation as these girls. Already, I'd had three boys stumble over to me, using shitty pick-up lines. I just flipped them off and walked away. Normally, I wouldn't be that mean to someone who was nice enough to show up to my birthday, but I really didn't care because I didn't even know who the fuck they were.

I walked into the kitchen to find Edward, who was talking in hushed tones to Emmett, cup in hand. Over the stereo pumping and the drunken slurs of people all around me, I couldn't understand what they were saying, but they looked like they were having a serious conversation.

I stood behind Edward, and even though I was pretty tall, he was taller than me, so Emmett didn't see me, and Edward didn't notice, either. I could hear Emmett say, "Well, you have to soon." Then, Edward said, "I will, God! Just give me some more time!"

I still didn't have a clue what they were talking about, but I tapped Edward's shoulder, and he jumped, nearly spilling his mixed drink on the floor. "Holy fuck, Bella! You scared the shit out of me!" he laughed.

"You know you love it," I smiled, kissing his lips.

"Ew, if you guys are going to be all lovey-dovey and shit, I'm going to go talk to Rosalie," Emmett said.

"Oh, like you two aren't going to be "all lovey-dovey and shit", too, Emmett!" I pointed my finger at him.

He stopped and thought about this. "Okay, we probably are. But you don't want to see it do you?"

"No," I admitted.

"Exactly!" he smiled. "Happy birthday, Bellay. Sorry you have to be stuck with this moron on your birthday," he joked, pointing at Edward and walking away.

I looked at Edward. "I wouldn't want to spend my birthday with any other moron," I grinned, kissing him again.

"Even though there are about fifty other morons here, drinking way past their limit," he joked. "Which reminds me, I have to do something. Follow me."

He grabbed my hand and led me into the living room, where most of the people were. He released my hand, and walked over to an empty wooden chair. He lifted his leg up onto it, pulling the other up with it, and stood up straight. He cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled to the crowd. "Hey everybody! Is everyone having a good time?!" he shouted, hearing hollers and screams back in response that yes, everyone was having a good time. "Since everyone's basically drunk off their asses," he paused as people yelled in happiness with drunken slurs, "it's the best time to sing Happy Birthday!"

I was standing beside the chair Edward was on, and the crowd turned slightly to face me. I heard "Happpppyyy biiiirrthdaaay tooo youuuuu…", and the lyrics were so slurred, that I wouldn't have been able to recognize the song if I didn't already know it.

The song ended, and one random person fell to the floor, fist pumping, screaming, "Wooo, eighteeeeeeen!", referring to my new age. I had to laugh at the sight, considering she landed right on her elbow. She wouldn't remember what happened, I'm sure, but it would hurt in the morning.

"Thanks, guys!" I blushed to the people.

"Let's keep this party going!" Edward smiled to the guests as he got down from the chair.

Everyone went back to drinking and socializing, and Edward grabbed my hand. "I've got your present upstairs. Ready to see it?" he smiled.

I nodded happily in response. I loved surprises.

He took the steps two at a time, leading me by the hand, nearly falling over trying to keep up with him. He opened his bedroom door, and there was a couple neither of us knew sitting on the edge of his bed, making out.

"Out," he pointed towards the hallway. The girl shrugged and smiled, walking out, and the guy groaned, obviously upset we disrupted him. Edward and I took another step in, and he closed and locked the door.

"So. My present?" I pressed, smiling widely.

"Okay, sit down and close your eyes."


	20. Changes

EDWARD'S POINT OF VIEW:

Bella did as she was told, and folded her hands in her lap. I went into my closet and pulled out a box with red and yellow wrapping paper adorning the sides.

"Can I look yet?!" she asked happily. "I'm getting antsy!"

"Jeez, Bella! Patience is a virtue. Hold on," I instructed.

"You're just doing this to make me wait, aren't you?"

"Maybe," I admitted. And I was, simply because I was nervous to give it to her. I was getting anxious from just wondering - hoping - that she'd like it. But there's always a chance  
she'd just get weirded out. And that would be bad.

I sat next to her on the edge of the bed and set the box on her lap. "Can I open my eyes now?"

I laughed. "Yeah, you can open your eyes."

"Oooh, yay!" she exclaimed excitedly. Her smile was wide, and I hoped that when she unwrapped the gift, it wouldn't fade away.

She tore the paper off, to see a white box, and she lifted off the top. A second box was revealed, and she looked at me quizzically, and I shrugged, causing her to laugh. She opened another box, and another, and another, until she came to a small blue box, finally finding the real gift.

She lifted her head and smiled. "This isn't a trick, is it? There isn't another box in this one, is there?"

I chuckled. "No, this is it. I promise."

She set the bigger white boxes on the floor at our feet and held the blue box in her hand, using the other to pop it open. Her jaw dropped, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Relief washed over me as she turned her head to me with a smile that was miles wide. "Edward! Oh my god!" She gave me a tight hug from the side, then pulled back and lifted her wrist up to me. "Put it on for me?"

I grinned and nodded, and grabbed the silver-chained bracelet out of the box, wrapping it around her wrist. I clasped the ends together, and slid the heart with the word "Love" in the center to the top of her wrist.

"Did you read what the back of the heart says?" I asked softly.

She shook her head. "I didn't know there was anything on the back…" She flipped the heart over with her other hand and recited the engraving out loud. "Bella, Love forever. –Edward".

She gasped and looked at me again.

"So, I take it you like it?" I asked hopefully.

"I love it, Edward," she confessed.

"I'm glad. I got it to match the necklace I got you, which, I see, you're sporting," I beamed.

"Of course. I never take it off. Except for when I'm in the shower, of course," she chuckled.

Still facing down, looking at the bracelet, she leaned to the side and rested her head on my shoulder. I kissed her head and she looked at me, her eyes brimming with tears although she was smiling brightly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She removed her head from my shoulder to answer. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect. I've never been this happy. I've never gone so long without having someone rip out my happiness from beneath me. It's just… overwhelming."

I softly kissed her lips. "You deserve to be this happy."

She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder once again. After a period of silence, she broke the ice. "Edward," she whispered, tilting her head upwards to look into my eyes. "I've been waiting for the right moment to tell you something, and I think now's the right time," she said quietly. She drew in a deep breath, and smiled lightly. "I'm in love with you."

The butterflies in my stomach were flapping their wings wildly and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. "Really?" I asked softly, completely surprised and ecstatic at the same time.

Her smile still in tact, she nodded. "I know I've told you before, but I'm in love with you too. I'm just so glad you feel the same way," I chuckled nervously.

BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

I kissed his lips lightly, and he traced my bottom lip with his tongue, looking for an entrance. I opened my mouth, allowing him access. The kiss deepened, and he rested his hands on my waist, and stood up off the edge of the bed, pulling me up with him. Hands still at my waist, he lifted me off my feet and gently laid me on the bed on my back. He landed on top of me, our lips still attached.

I'd never done this before, but I'd known enough to figure out where it was leading. I was scared to death about what was about to happen just because it was the first time. I trusted him of course, but that still didn't make me any less fearful about the situation.

He straddled my waist, and leaned down to leave a trail of kisses from my neck down to my collarbone, and his fingers fumbled with the hem of my shirt. He lifted it over my head, exposing more skin, and he continued kissing down my chest. He sat up, allowing me to remove his shirt. He unzipped my pants and slipped them off, then removed his own.  
I was breathing heavily from the nerves, and suddenly, I said, "Wait!"

He lifted his head from my chest, but left his hands at my waist. He didn't say anything; he just looked at me. "I'm scared," I said quietly.

He finally spoke. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… This is all new to me. I'm afraid," I admitted.

"You mean… You're a virgin?" he asked, unable to believe me.

I nodded.

"Well… Can I be your first? You can trust me. I'll take it slow."

I gulped and contemplated it. I definitely wanted to say yes, but I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. But why shouldn't I?, I asked myself. I didn't really have a reason to say no, and I really wanted to. So I nodded my head, and he smiled sweetly. I couldn't help but smile back.

He unclasped my bra, dropping it on the floor beside us, and then removed his boxers. He slipped my panties off, and slid on protection.

Then, I gave myself to him.


	21. Going Home

Rays of sunlight poured through the windowpane, blinding my tired eyes. I closed them tighter, hoping to block the light, but with no such luck. I could still feel the sun burning my retinas through my eyelids, and decided now was as good a time as any to wake up.

I removed my arm from around Edward's waist, and his sleeping figure twitched under the skin of my hand moving, and he awakened. His eyes opened then closed a few times before finally staying open. "Morning," he smiled sweetly, still half-asleep.

"Morning, Edward," I smiled.

He turned a little, and landed on his back since he was on his side. "So, how was last night? Are you okay and everything?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I smiled sincerely.

"So did it hurt?" he asked quietly.

"Um, a little," I trailed off. Truth be told, it was pretty painful at first. But the pain went away quickly. "It was worth it though. I'm glad it was you," I smiled.

He smiled sweetly, and suddenly got out of the bed. He walked over to my side of the bed and lifted me up bridal-style. "What are you doing?!" I laughed.

"We have to go get Megan from her friend's house!" he grinned.

"You do realize I'm in my underwear?!"

"Oh. Right," he said, putting me down and grabbing shorts and a shirt of his out of his drawer. "Put these on," he instructed, throwing them at me.

I did as I was told, and we headed out the door, now both fully clothed, and got into his car.

He put the keys in the ignition and pulled out of the driveway. "Damn. I miss you in your underwear already," he sighed.

I blushed. "Shut up, Edward," I laughed.

-------

The days passed, and Sunday came; the day Edward's parents came home. The day I'd have to leave.

"Morning, Edward," I said, walking downstairs to see Edward eating cereal in the kitchen.

"Hey Bella. You look good today," he smiled. Weird. I looked like shit. I didn't brush my hair, didn't put on makeup, and I had bags under my eyes since I barely got any sleep. I was too worried about what would happen when Megan and I got home to fall asleep.

I sat down next to Edward at the island and leaned my head on his shoulder. "Your parents will be home in like, three hours. I don't want to go home," I sighed.

"I don't want you to, either. But I'm pretty sure my parents would kill me if they found out I had a girl stay over for nearly a week," he chuckled.

Finished with his cereal, he put the bowl in the sink and pecked my lips. "Here, I'll help you and Meg pack up."

I nodded, and we ascended the steps to his bedroom where I had been staying. I grabbed the bag I brought and started throwing clothes and any of my other belongings into it. We did the same with Megan's clothes, and the three of us went downstairs.

Edward sighed and looked at me. "Well. I guess we better go… I just don't want you to."

"But I have to. We can still see each other and everything," I assured him.

"I know, but I liked having you here every day," he chuckled. "And besides, I'm worried about you going back to your dad…" he trailed off.

I shrugged. "I'm sure everything will be okay."

"Call me ASAP if anything goes wrong, or if you need help. I hate seeing you with bruises," he whispered, kissing my lips softly.

-------

Edward stopped the car in our driveway, and turned his head to me and smiled. "Bye, Bella. I love you."

"I love you too, Edward." I leaned over and kissed him.

"Ew! Stop kissing!" Megan whined from the backseat.

I smiled at Edward, amused with my little sister's complaining about the situation. "Bye, Edward," I said, getting out of the car.

I grabbed Megan's hand and walked up the sidewalk to the front of the house, hearing Edward honk the horn as he drove onto the street.

"Wait here, Meg," I said, leaving her on the porch. I walked over to the mailbox, expecting to see a check from Susan and Rick, our wealthy aunt and uncle. They gave us money each month for food, bills, and other utilities since my Dad couldn't hold up a steady job because of his drinking.

Although today was Sunday, we shouldn't have received any mail, but we should have gotten it Friday. I assumed it would still be in there because my Dad wasn't responsible enough to get his ass off the couch to go get it.

I opened it up, and a sea of envelopes dropped onto the ground. I picked them up and sorted through them. "Bills, bills, bills, magazine, bills…" I muttered under my breath, searching for the check.

I finally got to the last one, seeing it was just another bill. My eyes widened. No money! Did they forget to send us the check? Did it get lost in the mail? Possibilities raced through my head. The only thing I could do was go inside the house and see if maybe, just maybe, Dad had gotten it out of the mailbox after all. Of course, I didn't tell Megan what happened, because I didn't want to worry her with our financial situation.

I opened the door and walked in, Megan following behind me. Darkness enveloped me. The lights, the television, and every other electrical appliance was turned off. I reached my arm out to the light switch located by the door, and flipped it upward. Nothing happened. "Meg, don't move," I instructed her.

I took a step forward into the darkness, crying out in pain as my foot stomped on a beer bottle, causing me to trip. I took baby steps into the kitchen, trying to feel my way through the path of bottles, but failing.

Finally, I found myself in the kitchen, and grabbed a flashlight that was in a cabinet and flipped the switch, finally being able to clearly evaluate my surroundings.

I turned around and gasped, seeing my father sitting on the stool by the island, head laying on the wooden surface, obviously passed out.

I shook my head and went back into the living room where I left Megan, now armed with a flashlight. "I found a flashlight," I informed her. "I'm going to check the fuse box. Maybe a fuse got blown while we were gone. I don't know why else the lights won't turn on."

I was still freaking out about the fact that we didn't have the check in the mail, but I tried to push that thought to the back of my mind. I could only deal with one problem at a time without having a complete breakdown.

I went outside to find the fuse box and made a few repairs, hoping that would remedy the problem. "Go back inside and see if you can get the lights to turn on," I told Megan.

She nodded, and went inside. A few seconds passed, and she came back out. "I still couldn't get anything to turn on," she admitted.

I sighed in anger, frustration, sadness, worry, and every possible negative emotion you could possibly have. I attempted to count my blessings, but I just couldn't. Thoughts that overtook my mind instead were negative: the thought of not having electricity, not having any money for food or utilities, having a father passed out in the kitchen and now –

Now, I saw a vehicle pull into the driveway. I read the decaled lettering on the side of the black car.

Social Services.


	22. Linda Bridges

A woman, probably in her thirties, opened the driver's side door of the black vehicle and stepped out. She went to walk up the sidewalk to the front door, until she turned her head and saw my sister and I standing outside by the breaker box.

The woman swiftly turned on her heels to walk over to us, a friendly smile upon her face. She outstretched her arm to me, allowing me to shake it.

"Hello," she greeted me, then looking downward to smile at my sister, shaking her hand as well. "My name is Linda Bridges." She tipped her head back up to me. "You must be Bella Swan?" she asked more than stated.

I nodded, and she looked at my sister. "Then I assume you're Megan, correct?", to which Megan nodded, both of us still in shock at what exactly was going on.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but, why are you here?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

She had a clipboard in her hands, and she lifted it to her face, reading over the paper on top. "Well, if you're who you just said you are, then your father must be Charles Swan… And if that's true, then obviously, you have no electricity… The electric company informed us that your electric bills hadn't been paid on time, and they were forced to stop powering your house. But, since there were underage kids living in the home, they had to call us."

Finally, a light turned on. But not in the house, it was in my head. Dad had gotten the mail. He couldn't pass up money. Of course he would leave the bills in the mailbox, though. The money, obviously, he spent on booze. Go figure.

"Actually, I'm not really underage. I just turned eighteen last Friday," I informed the woman.

She looked taken aback. "Oh! Well. That changes everything." Changes what? What was she talking about?

I just looked at her, my face begging for an explanation. "We were going to have to have your father arrested, because we'd gotten word from a certain…" she checked the clipboard to make sure the name was correct, "Alice Brandon?" she looked at me to see if I'd known anyone by that name. And of course I did.

"Um, she called you? What did she tell you, exactly?" I asked. I had no idea Alice had done anything like this.

"She informed us that your father was abusing you and your sister, and that there was excessive drinking going on. That, coupled with the lack of electricity for you kids, is enough for him to be arrested. The cops are on the way. We originally were going to have to have you two adopted out."

My eyes bulged out of my head at her statement. "But," she said quickly, obviously realizing how scared I looked, "since you're eighteen, you're legal. You get legal rights to your sister. And neither of you have to be adopted out."

A tidal wave of relief washed over me. At least we wouldn't have to be adopted and separated. But what about paying bills? There were only a few job openings in the area, and none of them paid enough to support two people for food, bills, gas, etc. I guess I'd just have to figure something out later.

I tried to concentrate on the situation at hand: my dad. He'd be in jail. Was I happy? No. Was I sad? No. Honestly, I didn't really feel anything about it. I was indifferent. I could care less where he was, as terrible as that sounds.

"So," Linda went on, "once the cops get here and arrest your father, I guess you'll inherit this house. You are old enough, and this is where you live."

My jaw dropped. I got the house? Me? Well, I guess that's one thing taken care of. Still, I had the bills hanging over my head.

"Now, I need to know, what has been your primary financial source? None of the records we've looked through say anything about your father being employed," she continued.

"Actually, our aunt and uncle give us money monthly to pay for everything. But I don't know if they still will since Dad will be going to jail," I admitted.

"Oh, I see. Well, I'll get in touch with them, talk them into continuing with contributing to your finances. How does that sound?" she asked sweetly.

I nodded.

"We're just here to help," she smiled.

Just then, the cops arrived, parking behind the Social Services car that Linda had driven here. A short, stout man opened the driver's side door and walked over to the three of us.

"Good afternoon. Bella Swan?" he nodded his head towards me, and I nodded. Although I didn't have a criminal record, and I really had no reason to, the police petrified me. I hated when they were around. I always thought twice about my next move, afraid I'd accidentally do something stupid and get into trouble.

"I'm Officer Weston," he introduced himself, shaking my hand. "Is Charles Swan around, by any chance?" he asked.

"Yes, he's inside the house, in our kitchen," I replied, ready to get this over with. "Here, I'll show you where it is."

I led him up to the house, Linda and Megan in tow. I opened the door slowly, trying not to let it run into the slew of beer bottles lying around. Even though I couldn't make out his expression in the darkness, I imagined he was probably taken aback by the number of bottles.

I felt my way through dark, finally getting into the kitchen. The curtains were drawn slightly, so a little bit of sunlight spilt through, making it so the four of us could make out the outline of my father's figure, still passed out with his head on the island.

Officer Weston turned around and looked at me. "I don't want you to see this. I hate to arrest your own father in front of you. Why don't you three go outside and discuss this further?" he suggested.

"Okay," I nodded graciously. He was right. I didn't want to see my father arrested. Even after what he put my sister and I through, I didn't want to see him get arrested.

Linda started walking into the living room, and out the front door, with me trailing behind, holding Megan's hand. We stopped at the porch, and Linda pulled a cell phone out of her pocket. "Bella, if you could tell me your aunt and uncle's number, I'll call them for you and get this situation settled."

I recited the digits off to her as she typed them into her cell phone's keypad. She filled them in with details on the situation, and I sat on the steps with Megan.

"So Meg, are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"Are you sad?"

"No."

"Are you relieved?"

She just shrugged. This was the first time I'd ever seen her talk so little. It worried me.

"Meg, is there something you're not telling me?" I asked softly.

"No. I'm just thinking."

"What about?"

"Well," she started, "Dad's always been mean to us. But I feel like we're being just as mean sending him to jail," she admitted, finally saying more than one word at a time.

I didn't really know what to think of her response. I'd never even thought of that. Here was a six-year-old girl, thinking like that.

"Actually, that hadn't even crossed my mind," I divulged.

-------

About twenty minutes later, the policeman came out of the house, leading my drunken father to his car in handcuffs. I didn't look at him as the cop ducked his head into the backseat. His eyes pleaded for me to, but I couldn't.

By this time, Linda had gotten off the phone, informing me that my aunt and uncle had agreed to keep supporting us.

"Meg, do you want to go to Edward's?" I asked, already planning on going whether she agreed to or not.

She smiled for the first time all day and nodded.

"Sounds good."


	23. The Pen

"Charles Swan, please," I informed the guard. It had been two years since I'd seen my father taken away in handcuffs. I was twenty, Edward was twenty-one, and Megan just turned eight.

I had never been so nervous; I was about to come face-to-face with the man who nearly ruined my life. The same man I'd called "Dad".

Edward held onto my hand tightly and Megan walked beside me. "Bella, your hand is shaking," Edward whispered as we walked past the rows and rows of jail cells.

"I know. I'm so scared," I admitted.

"Me too, Bellsie," Megan said.

"It'll be okay, though," I told her softly as I rustled her hair with my free hand.

I was battling myself in my mind, as I had been for the last month, when I decided I would visit my father. I wanted to see him; he was my Dad, after all. But he had treated me like dirt. I almost felt like going to see him was the wrong thing to do. But here I was, now only two cells away from where my father had been confined for the last two years.

"Here he is, Ms. Swan," the guard smiled. He took a few steps backward so as to give us some privacy.

The man I saw with his head hung low sitting on the edge of the bed on the other side of the bars wasn't anybody I would have recognized. He of course was my Dad, but he looked vastly different. His hair was now nearly completely gray, and his hairline was receding at an alarming rate for a man his age. He had gained weight, too.

He finally looked up at me. The lines in his face were deep and clear; he looked like the saddest man on Earth.

He sighed deeply. "Bella," he whispered. "Megan."

Megan smiled weakly and I waved, still straight-faced. His eyes immediately shot to my raised hand. "Is that… Is that what I think it is?" he asked quietly.

I nodded. "So Edward… you… you proposed? To my little girl?" He sounded even more miserable than before, if that was even possible.

"Uh, yes, sir. I did," Edward confirmed, speaking to my father for the first time that day.

My dad nodded knowingly. "Well, congratulations, honey. I'm glad to see you've stayed happy these last few years."

Just hearing him say those words made my eyes brim with tears. I tried blinking them away, but a few escaped.

He finally stood up from the edge of the bed and walked over to the bars separating us. He reached his hand between the metal and wiped them away. "I know I haven't been the best father by miles, but I still love you. You're my little girl," he smiled feebly. "And you too, Megan." He dropped to his knees to be level with her, and ruffled her hair through the bars.

"I love you too, Daddy," Megan said softly.

"I'm sorry, but it's time for you to leave," the guard said, stepping towards us.

I glanced at my father, seeing his eyes watering. "I love you, Daddy. I always will."

"I'm so sorry… for everything…" he whimpered before the muscular security guard gently guided us away from my father.

"You okay?" Edward asked me softly before turning on the car.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I am, actually." And I wasn't lying. Closure was what I needed. For the first time in what felt like decades, I was able to close a chapter of my life while opening up a brand new one with Edward.

THE END


End file.
